U.S. Wheat Leader Sees Progress on Trade Deals
Capital Press – 10/14/2019
Passage of the USMCA trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico may be getting closer, says the head of the U.S. wheat industry’s overseas marketing arm. “We need it very badly as a sign to the Mexicans that we’re in this for good, we’re not backing out of this,” said Vince Peterson, president of U.S. Wheat Associates. Peterson provided an update by phone to board members of the Washington Grain Commission during their Oct. 10 meeting in Spokane. “Frankly, we also need it to show everybody else — including the Chinese, the UK and whoever else that we might have trading relationships with that we are serious about trade and there’s support all the way from Congress through the executive branch to do these things,” Peterson said. Negotiators in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in 2018 asked U.S. Wheat what a trade win with China might look like.
Wheat Seen Following a Seasonal Rally, Analyst Says
Successful Farming – 10/14/2019
The announcement of a potential breakthrough with China is very positive for ag markets and will likely underpin prices at least short term. Seasonally, wheat tends to rally into late October, and it appears that we’re following that normal pattern. Considering we’re very close to the time window for a seasonal high, we’ll be looking for solid sell signals as a sign of a top. Prices for wheat and corn were strongly lower after Thursday’s reports, while soybeans managed to rally. But Friday saw prices regain all those losses and then continue to move higher on an announcement of a trade deal with China. Reports suggest that China has committed to buying an annual $40 to $50 billion worth of U.S. agricultural goods within two years. That is a massive amount of purchasing, with the previous high just a few years ago at $16 billion. It will be interesting to see if the deal actually gets signed and what China will want to purchase. Rumors have it that they will focus on pork, soybeans, white wheat, and hard red spring wheat.
U.S., China Forge Tentative Deal with Big Ag Trade Promises
Agri-Pulse – 10/11/2019
The United States and China have agreed to a tentative trade deal that addresses biotechnology restrictions and other key agricultural issues while substantially boosting U.S. farm exports, President Donald Trump said Friday. There are still parts of the deal that need to be finalized, and that will take three to five weeks to complete. Trump called the agreement “Phase 1” of two or three steps that it will take to end the trade war. If negotiators are successful in finishing this deal over the next several weeks, China has agreed to import $40 billion to $50 billion worth of U.S. ag commodities on an annual basis. China imported only $9 billion worth of U.S. ag products in 2018, but purchases were much higher in recent years before the trade war began. China imported about $26 billion worth of U.S. ag in 2012, according to USDA data.
Local Grain Economies: Breeding Regional Wheat
Idaho State Journal – 10/14/2019
Crop breeder Steve Lyon acknowledges his groundbreaking new release, Skagit 1109, is essentially a reboot of the wheat that ancient grain farmers raised for thousands of years before the advent of hybridization. Lyon, with the Washington State University Bread Lab in Burlington, Washington, said people are calling that promising hard red winter wheat variety a “modern landrace.” The term “landrace” refers to endemic, domesticated crops that evolved over time through adaptation to local environments. The bread lab strives to develop seeds adapted for specific regions, thereby building a more “resilient food system.” The lab has been among the foremost leaders in the reemergence of local grain economies — marketing grain for local consumption rather than through the commodities market.
Pandhandle Perspectives: Winter Wheat Grain Yield and Protein Research Update
Star Herald – 10/15/2019
For Nebraska dryland winter wheat producers, 2019 has been another challenging year. In many cases, grain harvested this summer had a protein level below 10 percent, except where producers applied fertilizer nitrogen (N) in hopes of getting a yield boost from wet spring weather experienced by much of Nebraska. Reports of low protein levels came from some cooperative representatives and producers. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln wheat variety trials recorded protein level around 12 percent in most instances, with a few lines having below 10 in the Scotts Bluff County trial. Wheat producers lose income as a discount kicks in at protein level lower than 10 or 11 percent. Low protein levels in wheat caused Nebraska producers to lose an estimated $2.3 million to $9.6 million dollars of the value of the 2016 wheat crop despite high yields. Similar low protein issues persisted in 2017.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates