November 14, 2019
U.S. Commercial Export Sales Pace Ahead of 2018/19
Originally published November 3, 2019
Three and a half months into marketing year 2019/20, total U.S. export sales* as of Oct. 15 of 13.8 million metric tons (MMT), 14 percent ahead of last year’s pace. Sales to four of the top 10 U.S. wheat customers are ahead of last year’s pace. Export sales to Mexico, the top U.S. customer over a five-year period, are up 50 percent year-over-year at 2.09 MMT. Sales to Nigeria total 936,000 metric tons (MT), up sharply from the 569,000 MT sold this time last year. All U.S. wheat classes except hard red spring (HRS) and white wheat are ahead of last year’s pace. USDA projects 2019/20 U.S. wheat exports will rise to 25.9 MMT. If realized, this would be 1 percent higher than 2018/19. Read the full article here.
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Researchers Create Method to Identify Drought-Resilient Wheat
Originally published by USW November 8, 2019
Reprinted with permission by World Grain
Australian researchers have developed a new method to identify drought-resilient wheat quickly, cheaply and accurately. Work by the scientists from The Australian National University (ANU), ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, and CSIRO Agriculture and Food could help breeders develop more drought-resilient crops that can produce more food and more profit with less water. Read the full article here.
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Expanded Trade Delegation Effort Connects Buyers, Farmers and U.S. Wheat Organizations
Originally published November 11, 2019
By Catherine Miller, USW Program and Planning Coordinator
One of the most important types of activities U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) overseas representatives conduct is trade service. In other words, they help their customers understand how to get the most value as possible from their U.S. wheat purchases. A crucial part of trade service is giving many of those customers the chance to experience the U.S. wheat supply system first hand. Read the full article here.
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USW Submits Trade Barriers Report with Additional Detail on China and India
Originally published November 12, 2019
By Dalton Henry, USW Vice President of Policy
Each year, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) compiles and publishes the National Trade Estimates (NTE) report — a comprehensive report detailing barriers that U.S. exporters, including wheat farmers, face in markets around the world. Read the full article here.
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USW Market Analyst Attends Crop Quality Seminars and Annual IAOM Conference
Originally published November 14, 2019
By Claire Hutchins, USW Market Analyst
Every year, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) hosts educational seminars around the world to engage with overseas customers and share information on the unique quality and marketing characteristics of that’s year’s U.S. wheat harvest. In early November, I had the opportunity to join my USW colleagues for the first time in Dubai, U.A.E. and Cairo, Egypt for two crop quality seminars and the 30th anniversary celebration of the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM). These events were substantially different, but equally important opportunities to engage with U.S. wheat customers around the world. Read the full article here.
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Recent News Releases from USW
Long-Sought Opening of Brazilian Wheat TRQ Ahead
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“This solution to a long-standing problem is a result of the Administration’s advocacy for American farmers and will allow our wheat exporters to compete on a level playing field. We look forward to increased exports of American wheat to Brazil.” — U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announcing Brazil’s intention to soon implement an annual duty-free tariff rate quota (TRQ) of 750,000 metric tons of wheat imports from outside the South American trading bloc. Read more at http://bit.ly/2XbvC9e.
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Connecting with Customers and Farmers. November is a busy time for wheat and flour industry meetings around the world. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) representatives have started the last legs of the 2019 Crop Quality Seminars in North Asia following several seminars in the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and Africa earlier this month. The annual meeting of the Latin American Millers Association (ALIM) is underway in Mexico this week and many USW staff, farmer directors and state representatives have tickets to Japan to participate in a USW sponsored Buyers Conference there. In addition, USW and the National Association of Wheat Growers are participating in the Tri-State Wheat Growers Conference with farmers from the Pacific Northwest states this week in Spokane, Wash.
2019 National Wheat Yield Contest. The National Wheat Foundation’s National Wheat Yield Contest offers growers the opportunity to compete with farmers from across the United States and improve their production practices through new and innovative techniques. Earlier this week, NWF announced the national winners for the 2019 National Wheat Yield Contest. Read the full release here.
National Wheat Foundation Scholarship Applications are due by Dec. 1, 2019. The Jerry Minore Scholarship is awarded to deserving high school or college students pursuing a career in agriculture for the 2019/2020 academic year. This year the Foundation will be issuing two scholarships for $2,500 each.
Registration for 2020 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. USDA has opened registration for the 96th annual Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF) on Feb. 20 to 21, 2020, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va. “The Innovation Imperative: Shaping the Future of Agriculture” sessions will focus on innovations in agriculture, global trade trends, food loss and waste, frontiers in conservation, and the science of food safety. More information will be released in November. USW is a cooperator with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
Wheat-based Ingredients Offer Nutritional and Functional Benefits. That was a positive headline for an article in “Supermarket Perimeter” promoting the value of defatted wheat germ in many different products. The article notes that food formulators are exploring ways for other wheat-based ingredients than flour to help them create products for today’s trends – germ, bran, fiber and protein. Read the article online at http://bit.ly/2QhBJHp.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates