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USW Harvest Report for 2021/22 Returns May 14

The new U.S. winter wheat crop is rapidly developing and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) will publish its first “Harvest Report” for marketing year 2021/22 on Friday, May 14.

USW Harvest Reports are published every Friday afternoon, Eastern Daylight Time, throughout the season with updates and comments on harvest progress, crop conditions and current crop quality for hard red winter (HRW), soft red winter (SRW), hard red spring (HRS), soft white (SW) and durum wheat.

Anyone may subscribe to an email version of the “Harvest Report” at this link. USW includes links in the email to additional wheat condition and grading information, including the U.S. Drought Monitor, USDA/NASS Crop Progress and National Wheat Statistics, the official FGIS wheat grade standards and USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. Harvest Reports are also posted online on the USW website here.

The weekly Harvest Report is a key component of USW’s international technical and marketing programs. It is a resource that helps customers understand how the crop situation may affect basis values and export prices.

USW’s overseas offices share the report with their market contacts and use it as a key resource for answering inquiries and meeting with customers. Several USW offices publish the reports in the local language. Additional links to Harvest Report are available on USW’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

USW wants to thank and acknowledge the organizations that make “Harvest Reports” possible, including:

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Six Unique U.S. Wheat Classes: Definition and Uses

Each of the six U.S. wheat classes brings unique advantages to the increasingly competitive global wheat market.

First, and perhaps the most important, is consistency in quality and supply. Although each new crop year brings different challenges and opportunities, high-quality U.S. wheat is always available to the global market.

Second, each class of wheat provides the ingredients needed to produce so much of the world’s food. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Vice President of Global Technical Services Mark Fowler makes the point this way: “Our six U.S. wheat classes give our customers the opportunity to optimize taste, texture and appearance of thousands of food products made with flour or semolina.”

Every region, country and culture have wheat-based food products that are uniquely their own. The United States has the right wheat class and quality to make every one of those products more appealing and valuable.

In the video below, Mark Fowler talks about each of the six wheat classes grown in the United States, their definition, uses and their functional characteristics.

Learn more about the six classes of U.S. wheat here or leave a question in the U.S. Wheat Associates’ “Ask The Expert” section.

Interested in more USW video content? Visit our video library at https://vimeo.com/uswheatassociates.

Read more about other classes of U.S. wheat in this series.

Hard Red Winter
Hard Red Spring
Hard White
Soft White
Soft Red Winter
Durum

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U.S Wheat Associates Shares Winter 2021 Wheat Supply and Demand Outlook

The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Board of Directors includes wheat farmer leaders appointed to represent each of the 17 state wheat commissions that are members of USW and meets three times during each marketing year (June to May). For each of the meetings, the USW Market Analyst prepares a “Wheat Supply and Demand Outlook” report based on USDA market data to provide an update on the global and U.S. wheat market. The full Winter 2021 report is posted at https://bit.ly/MarketSummary012721.

The report includes sections on world wheat supply and demand, wheat production in the major wheat exporting countries and regions, including U.S. wheat production by class, timely reports such as U.S. wheat seeded area, and U.S. commercial wheat sales.

World Production and Use data from the Winter 2021 Wheat Supply and Demand Outlook

The latest report, prepared Jan. 27, 2021, indicates marketing year 2020/21 is a significant one, with several records set. For example, USDA expects global wheat production to reach 773 million metric tons (MMT) following increased annual production in Australia, Russia and Canada among exporting countries. World wheat trade is expected to increase 1% to a record 194 MMT, which would be 7% more than the 5-year average. With strong carryover from 2019/20 and increased production, global wheat ending stocks are projected at 313 MMT, with China expected to hold 159 MMT and India 31.3 MMT of that total at the end of 2020/21. U.S wheat ending stocks, however, are expected to be the lowest since 2014/15.

USDA has also reported that U.S. winter wheat seeded area (including hard red winter, soft red winter, fall seeded soft white, hard white and Desert Durum®) increased for the first time since 2013/14. Hutchins notes in the report that beneficial field conditions and strong farmgate price potential at planting time motivated hard red winter and soft red winter wheat producers to increase planted area from last year.

U.S. Winter wheat planted area data from the Winter 2021 Wheat Supply and Demand Outlook

View the full Winter 2021 Wheat Supply and Demand Outlook at https://bit.ly/MarketSummary012721.

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Annual USW Crop Quality Report Now Available for the World’s Wheat Buyers

Even in the face of a global pandemic, dependable U.S. wheat farmers persisted in their essential effort to produce the highest quality wheat in the world, while the reliable U.S. export supply system continued operating to move that wheat to the world.

As a key part of its commitment to transparency and trade service, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) has produced its annual Crop Quality Report that includes grade, flour and baking data for all six U.S. wheat classes. The report compiles comprehensive data from analysis of hundreds of samples conducted during and after harvest by our partner organizations and laboratories. The report provides essential, objective information to help buyers get the wheat they need at the best value possible.

The 2020 USW Crop Quality Report is now available for download in English, Spanish, French and Italian. Arabic, Chinese and, for the first time, Portuguese, translations will be available soon. USW also shares more detailed, regional reports for all six U.S. wheat classes on its website, as well as additional information on its sample and collection methods, solvent retention capacity (SRC) recommendations, standard deviation tables and more. Download these reports and resources from the www.uswheat.org here.

The pandemic has changed other traditional parts of the USW Crop Quality outreach effort. Unfortunately, face-to-face Crop Quality Seminars are not possible in 2020. Instead, USW is preparing a unique way for our customers to experience and gain more knowledge about the 2020 U.S. wheat crops. For more information, please contact your local USW office.

Continue to look for updates from the 2020 USW Crop Quality Seminars on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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2020 Soft Red Winter Crop Will Please Buyers and End Users

The world’s wheat buyers should be extremely happy with the quality of the entire 2020 U.S. soft red winter (SRW) crop. This year’s composite characteristics for East Coast supplies are very good with pockets of higher enzymatic activity (lower falling number) and Gulf Port supplies offer uniformly excellent characteristics.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) has posted the full Soft Red Winter Wheat 2020 Quality Survey on its website here.

USDA estimates the 2020 SRW seeded area at 5.63 million acres (2.28 million hectares), up slightly from 2019 but less than the 5-year average. After generally good growing conditions, harvest ended in some areas ahead of the five-year pace. Total SRW production, estimated at 277 million bushels or 7.54 million metric tons (MMT), is up 15% from 2019 but below the five-year average of 304 million bushels (8.28 MMT).

Great Plains Analytical Laboratory, Kansas City, Mo., collected and analyzed 191 samples from elevators in 18 reporting areas across 11 states. The number of samples collected this year is significantly less than in 2019 because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions at country elevators. Test weight, moisture, protein, thousand kernel weight, wheat ash, falling number and DON were determined on individual samples; the remaining tests were determined on 18 composite samples.

Here are highlights of data from this very good, 2020 SRW wheat crop.

Wheat and Grade Data: 

  • Grade – the overall average is U.S. No. 2 SRW.
  • Test Weight for the Gulf Port average of 59.8 lb/bu (78.7 kg/hl) and East Coast test weight average of 59.3 lb/bu (78.0 kg/hl) are both higher than 2019 and 5-year averages.
  • Total Defects for the East Coast average of 1.5% is lower than last year but above the 5-year average. The Gulf Port average is 0.6%, significantly lower than 2019 and 5-year averages.
  • Dockage and moisture for both regions are lower than last year and 5-year average values.
  • Wheat Protein content for the Composite average of 9.4% (12% mb) is lower than last year and the 5-year average. The Gulf Port protein average of 9.4% is equal to 2019 but slightly below the 5-year average. The East Coast average of 9.4% is significantly below the 2019 and 5-year average.
  • Wheat Falling Number – The Gulf Port falling number averages are higher this year and indicate a sound crop. The East Coast average is equal to last year but lower than the 5-year average.
  • Vomitoxin (DON) averages for Composite (0.5. ppm), East Coast (0.2 ppm) and Gulf Port (0.6 ppm) are significantly below 2019 and 5-year averages, indicating that the crop sampled is relatively free of DON.

Flour and Baking Data: 

  • Laboratory Mill Flour Extraction for Composite (66.8%), East Coast (67.0%) and Gulf Port (66.7%) are below 2019 and the 5-year averages.
  • Dough properties – data suggest this crop has stronger protein qualities than last year; slightly less extensible and more resistant.
  • Farinograph peak and absorption values are similar to 5-year averages, but the stability values are all below the 5-year averages.
  • Alveograph L averages for Composite (78), East Coast (75) and Gulf Port (78) are lower than last year and the 5-year average and indicate low extensibility.
  • Amylograph Gulf Port average of 760 BU is significantly higher than last year and the 5-year average. The East Coast average of 322 BU indicates relatively high levels of amylase activity in the crop and is consistent with low falling numbers.
  • Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) values generally indicate excellent quality for cookies, cakes, pretzels and crackers; sucrose values in particular indicate good performance.
  • Cookie spread ratios for Composite (10.2), East Coast (9.7) and Gulf Port (10.3) are all higher than last year and the 5-year averages, indicating good spreadability.
  • Loaf volume averages are significantly lower than last year and the 5-year averages, as the dough is relatively more resistant/less extensive

Buyers are encouraged to review their quality specifications to ensure that their purchases meet their expectations.

View other summaries of the 2020 U.S. wheat crop:
Hard Red Winter 
Hard Red Spring
Hard White
Soft White
Durum

View the full 2020 U.S. Crop Quality Report and other related resources here.

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Stories from the Wheat Farm – Loving the Work in Ohio

U.S. wheat farm families grow six distinct classes of wheat across the diverse landscape of the United States. Those farmers take great care in producing the highest quality wheat in the most sustainable ways possible to honor their family legacies and to ensure greater value for their customers at home and abroad. Behind the world’s most reliable supply of wheat are the world’s most dependable people.

Goyings Farms: The Goyings family has been “working hard and going strong” on their wheat farm in northwestern Ohio since 1884. Today, Doug Goyings, his wife Diane and their son Jeremy strive to be leaders in innovative farming practices that incorporate precision and conservation. They were one of the first farms in the area to successfully implement no-till practices and GPS-based systems that protect their soil, reduce fuel use and increase crop production efficiency.

With remarkable self-sufficiently, Doug and Jeremy designed and built their high-volume grain storage system (only to re-build it after it was severely damaged by a tornado) and built their own equipment to offer custom field drainage services to other farmers. They know that such challenging work and long days are made slightly easier when it is work that you love, surrounded by the people that you love, including the next generation on Goyings Farms – the twin boys Axel and Garrett of Jeremy and his wife Jessica.

Location: Paulding, Ohio
Classes of Wheat Grown:  Soft Red Winter (SRW)
Leadership: Doug Goyings: 2019/20 Chairman, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW); USW Director, representing Ohio Small Grains Marketing Program (OSGMP), since 2009; Past-Chairman, USW Long-Range Planning Committee; Past Director, OSGMP; Member and Past-President, Paulding County, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation; Director, Ohio Veal Growers Inc.; Director, Creston Veal, Inc.; Director, Paulding Landmark, Inc.

View other videos and stories in this “Stories from the Wheat Farm” series:

The Next Generation in Kansas
Committed to Stewardship in Washington
Living with Purpose in North Dakota
A Passion for the Land in Oklahoma
Committed to Wheat Quality in Oregon
Embracing the Agricultural Lifestyle in Montana

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USW 2020/21 Harvest Reports Return This Week

The new crop U.S. wheat harvest is underway in south Texas and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) will publish its first “Harvest Report” for marketing year 2020/21 on Friday, May 29.

USW Harvest Reports are published every Friday afternoon, Eastern Daylight Time, throughout the season with updates and comments on harvest progress, crop conditions and current crop quality for hard red winter (HRW), soft red winter (SRW), hard red spring (HRS), soft white (SW) and durum wheat.

Anyone may subscribe to an email version of the “Harvest Report” at this link. USW includes links in the email to additional wheat condition and grading information, including the U.S. Drought Monitor, USDA/NASS Crop Progress and National Wheat Statistics, the official FGIS wheat grade standards and USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. Harvest Reports are also posted online on the USW website here.

The weekly Harvest Report is a key component of USW’s international technical and marketing programs. It is a resource that helps customers understand how the crop situation may affect basis values and export prices.

USW’s overseas offices share the report with their market contacts and use it as a key resource for answering inquiries and meeting with customers. USW/Mexico City also publishes the report in Spanish.

USW wants to thank and acknowledge the organizations that make “Harvest Reports” possible, including:

  • California Wheat Commission Laboratory;
  • Durum Wheat Quality and Pasta Processing Laboratory, North Dakota State University (NDSU)
  • Great Plains Analytical Laboratory;
  • Plains Grains, Inc.;
  • State Wheat Commissions;
  • USDA/Federal Grain Inspection Service;
  • USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service;
  • USDA/Agricultural Research Service Hard Winter Wheat Quality Laboratory;
  • USDA/National Agricultural Statistics Service;
  • Wheat Marketing Center;
  • Wheat Quality & Carbohydrate Research, Department of Plant Sciences, NDSU;
  • Wheat Quality Council.

 

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Dependable People: A Spotlight on Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board

For 40 years, U.S. wheat farmers have supported U.S. Wheat Associates’ (USW) efforts to work directly with buyers and promote their six classes of wheat. Their contributions to state wheat commissions, who in turn contribute a portion of those funds to USW, qualifies USW to apply for export market development funds managed by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Currently, 17 state wheat commissions are USW members and this series highlights those partnerships and the work being done state-by-state to provide unmatched service. Behind the world’s most reliable supply of wheat are the world’s most dependable people – and that includes our state wheat commissions.

Member: Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board
USW Member since 2000

Location: Queenstown, Maryland
Classes of Wheat Grown: Soft Red Winter (SRW)
USW Leadership: Jason Scott, 2016/17 Chairman

The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board (MGPUB) works to increase the profitability of Maryland grain production and improve public understanding of agriculture through promotion, education and research.

Maryland wheat farmer Jason Scott (L) retired as 2016/17 Chairman and handed the gavel to 2017/18 Chairman Mike Miller, Washington wheat farmer (R), at the USW Summer Board Meeting in Annapolis, Md.

Why is export market development important to Maryland wheat farmers and why do they continue to support USW?

While Maryland has a large poultry industry in our state as an important customer for our grain, most of the soft red winter wheat grown here is primarily used to mill flour for cookies, pretzels and pastries. MGPUB recognizes that the export market is an important factor in supporting the commodity price for all farmers, including Maryland wheat growers.

How have Maryland wheat farmers recently interacted with overseas customers?

Maryland’s proximity to Washington, D.C. makes it a popular stop for farm tours for buyers and trade teams from different countries. In the last several years, Maryland has hosted trade teams and buyers from nearly twenty different countries showing them the quality of production methods and the soft red winter wheat grown in Maryland.

What is happening lately in Maryland that overseas customers should know about?

Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board funds several projects focused on wheat quality and production through the University of Maryland. These research projects include “Improving Soft Red Winter Wheat Cultivars,” “Increasing Protein of Soft Red Winter Wheat,” and “Managing for Fusarium Head Blight.”

Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board is also helps fund Maryland Farm & Harvest, a 30-minute, educational public television show that shares the good news story of farming with the public. Born from an idea at an MGPUB board meeting, the series is now an Emmy-winning, No. 1 rated local program, attracting an audience of over four million viewers.

Learn more about the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board on its website and on Facebook and Twitter.

Eric Spates, Maryland wheat farmer, traveled with USW on the 2017 Board team tour to Latin America, to visit U.S. wheat customers, including this one in Haiti.

Jason Scott (far right), Maryland wheat farmer and Past USW Chairman, joined USW for its 2019 Crop Quality Seminar Tour, visiting several countries in South America to share about the soft red winter wheat crop.

In 2014, a trade delegation from Brazil traveled with USW to the United States and stopped by Jason Scott’s farm in Maryland where they visited with several Maryland wheat farmers.

 

 

 

 

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Dependable People: A Spotlight on the Ohio Small Grains Checkoff

For 40 years, U.S. wheat farmers have supported U.S. Wheat Associates’ (USW) efforts to work directly with buyers and promote their six classes of wheat. Their contributions to state wheat commissions, who in turn contribute a portion of those funds to USW, qualifies USW to apply for export market development funds managed by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Currently, 17 state wheat commissions are USW members and this series highlights those partnerships and the work being done state-by-state to provide unmatched service. Behind the world’s most reliable supply of wheat are the world’s most dependable people – and that includes our state wheat commissions.

Member: Ohio Small Grains Checkoff
USW Member since 2010

Location: Delaware, Ohio
Classes of wheat grown: Soft Red Winter
USW Leadership: Doug Goyings, 2019/20 Chairman

The Ohio Small Grains Checkoff identifies opportunities to add value to Ohio’s small grains crops, including wheat, barley, rye and oats. Checkoff programs focus on exports, water quality, research, education and promotion, domestic demand and consumer outreach. We base our work on the belief that exports are vital for Ohio’s farmers and the state’s economic development.

2018/19 Chairman Chris Kolstad from Montana (R) passes the gavel to 2019/20 Chairman Doug Goyings from Ohio.

Why is export market development important to Ohio wheat farmers and why do they continue to support USW and its activities?

Ohio farmers value overseas markets for grain. We produce a quality product that is affordable and meets the demand from a growing world. We must continue developing relationships with overseas buyers and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) helps to accomplish that task for Ohio farmers.

Ohio is a soft red winter (SRW) wheat state. The nature of SRW is ideal for baking pastries, cookies, crackers and soft breads. With Mexico’s demand for SRW, with Brazil being another huge market, Ohio’s production is very important to our overall export strength for this commodity.

A trade delegation from Brazil visiting Stover Farm in Shelby, Ohio in 2019.

How have Ohio wheat farmers recently connected with overseas customers?

From hosting international trade missions on Ohio farms, to participating in foreign trade missions, Ohio farmers continue to help build relationships that will lead to open and honest communication with potential buyers of our wheat. USW is one of our most critical partners in these efforts – connecting our growers with the consumers they serve around the globe.

Most recently, Mexico’s third largest wheat milling operation sourced equivalents to rail car units from Ohio. We stand ready to support the international demand, especially to our closest neighbors.

What’s happening lately in Ohio that overseas customers should know about?

  • The Ohio Small Grains Checkoff is organizing an “Ohio Wheat Profitability Summit”. The goal is to increase planted acres by sharing research and practices that drive profit for SRW.
  • Ohio’s wheat farmers are on the front lines in addressing water quality issues in Ohio and the Great Lakes region. We believe our growers, and our products, provide tremendous value to efforts to reduce nutrient loading into the lakes. Our growers are actively supporting the H2Ohio effort which is driving higher adoption of best management practices on our fields.
  • Ohio Small Grains staff and board members are participating in the Wheat Quality Council’s meetings in Wooster, Ohio, with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory. The Ohio delegation will network with researchers, millers, and bakers during the event. In addition, they will provide a session to discuss challenges in Ohio wheat production.

Learn more about Ohio Small Grains Checkoff  on its website here and on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Several Ohio wheat farmers at the 2020 Wheat 104 reception during the USW-NAWG Joint Winter Board Meeting in Washington, D.C.

USW technical staff at USDA-ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory in 2016.

In 2017, Ohio wheat farmer Rachael Vonderhaar traveled with USW on a board delegation tour to Haiti, Mexico, Chile and Ecuador.

2019/20 Chairman Doug Goyings welcomes attendees to the 2019 USW Japan Buyers Conference.

 

 

 

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Market Offers Soft Red Winter Buying Opportunity

By Claire Hutchins, USW Market Analyst

Soft red winter (SRW) export prices had been climbing steadily since the end of the 2019 harvest on reduced production, tight ending stocks and stable domestic and overseas demand. Then after Jan. 24, 2020, export basis and FOB prices dipped, offering an opportunity for SRW importers to lock in a lower price through the end of marketing year 2019/20.

From mid-July 2019 to mid-January 2020, SRW export basis rose 65 percent from $0.85 per bushel (/bu) to $1.40/bu, 33 percent higher than last year at this time and 47 percent higher than the 5-year average.

However, between Jan. 24 and Jan. 31, 2020, a dip in export demand pressured SRW export basis for the first time since early September. SRW export basis fell 7 percent to $1.30/bu, the lowest since early December 2019. Lower basis and softer futures prices also pressured SRW FOB values 4 percent between Jan. 24 and Jan. 31 from $262/MT to $251/MT.

Market watchers, including those at U.S. Wheat Associates (USW), believe this price decline is a good buying signal. They believe SRW export basis will remain high through the end of 2019/20 based on still tightening exportable supplies and stable demand from overseas customers. Members from the grain trade also believe SRW export basis will be higher than average through the 2020/21 harvest based on significantly reduced beginning stocks year-over-year and substantial reductions in SRW planted area in states tributary to the Mississippi River, where a significant amount of SRW is transported from the countryside to export facilities in the Gulf.

Specifically, farmers reduced SRW planted area for harvest in 2019 due to overly wet field fields in the fall of 2018 and unprofitable prices. SRW production fell 17 percent from last year to 6.50 million metric tons (MMT), the lowest since 2010/11. USDA expects SRW ending stocks at the end of 2019/20 to fall 49 percent to 2.88 MMT, the lowest in 10 years. USDA predicts SRW exports will total 2.72 MMT, in line with the 5-year average.

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Think Farm Export Programs Don’t Matter? Think Again.

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