Slower Russian Wheat Sales to Benefit the U.S.
Succesful Farming – 10/08/2019
In 2017/18, Russia exported a record-high 1.5 billion bushels (41 MMT) of wheat and became the largest world wheat exporter taking the market from the U.S. and the EU. However, since that time, export volumes have been declining. This trend is likely to remain in place in 2019/20 when the country is expected to ship abroad 1.18 billion bushels (32 MMT). In the July-September 2019/20 marketing year, Russia has shipped 440 million bushels (11.8 MMT) of wheat which is -10% YoY. The domestic supply is tight. Many farmers prefer to store wheat for as long as they can, while selling other crops, like barley or sunflowers, when they need cash to repay loans or finance the winter seeding campaign. This is a common scenario, however, this season a farmer has more cash in his pocket after the 2018/19 season with relatively high prices. This is especially true for major export regions, like central or southern Russia. The South is important because it’s a key growing region that has almost all sea export grain terminals.
FranceAgriMer Raises Wheat, Barley Export Forecasts, Cuts Stocks
Reuters – 10/09/2019
Farm office FranceAgriMer raised its forecast for French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this season to 11.7 million tonnes on Wednesday, up from 11.0 million last month. The revised 2019/20 forecast was up nearly 14% compared with last season’s level and would be a four-year high, FranceAgriMer’s cereal supply-and-demand data showed. The office had said last month that export prospects were favourable, citing competitive prices that were raising hopes of French wheat regaining market share against Black Sea origins. France has since seen several cargoes load for Morocco amid an expected rise in demand from the North African country, and picked up sales to top wheat importer Egypt, although traders say competition from Ukrainian and Russian supplies remains stiff.
Molecular Technology is Changing the Breeding Game
Washington Grain Commission– 09/27/2019
Molecular technology has been rapidly changing in the past 20 years, making my job as Washington State University’s winter wheat breeder more complicated, and more streamlined simultaneously.
There are many different aspects of “molecular technology.” Manipulating genetic material and cellular process is part of it, but so are innovations in computational and manufacturing technology…Now that we have looked at how the technology has changed, let’s look at how we use the technology. DNA markers are small sequences of DNA that are closely linked to a particular gene we are interested in. For example, we have DNA markers that are linked to highly effective stripe rust resistance genes. We can use these DNA markers to select early generation breeding material so that we only advance lines carrying resistance genes. These lines are then moved to the field for validation, as you can get some false-positives using markers alone.
NASS Re-Surveying for Unharvested Small Grains
Capital Press – 10/07/2019
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service will re-survey farmers who had unharvested small grains in time for the agency’s crop report in November. The agency will verify what it heard from growers in September and record any difference in yield, said Chris Mertz, Northwest regional director for NASS, based in Olympia, Wash. He oversees the agency’s offices in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. “We want to go back and re-interview those producers that had unharvested small grains to make sure they did get it harvested,” Mertz said. Some harvests were delayed due to late plantings, Mertz said. As of Sept. 1, the reference date for the report, 55% of spring wheat in the country had been harvested, 23% below the five-year average. Some farmers may still be trying to finish harvest, he said. “Farmers are typically busy and we have a pretty persistent crew,” Mertz said. “We’ll do whatever we can to go out and get ahold of these producers again.” Estimates may be updated based on the data the agency collects, he said. If there’s enough difference to warrant a change, the new data will be released Nov. 8.
Late North American Durum Faces Quality Downgrades
Grainews – 10/08/2019
Cool and wet conditions delaying harvest operations across North America’s durum-growing regions are cutting into the quality of the crop in both the U.S. and Canada, with widening price spreads likely going forward. “It’s been a challenging harvest,” said Erica Olson, marketing specialist with the North Dakota Wheat Commission. “We did have some good crop come off with good quality and yields, but a sizeable chunk of our durum is still out there,” said Olson, noting the Canadian crop faces the same issues. About 10 per cent of North Dakota’s spring wheat crop was still in the field as of Sunday, according to the weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture crop progress report. About 43 per cent of Saskatchewan’s durum was also unharvested in the latest data out of that key durum-growing province. “Going forward, we’re expecting prices for the highest-quality top milling grades to continue to increase,” said Olson.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates