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Texas wheat growers learn of challenges, opportunitiesBy Jennifer M. Latzke A cold, rainy February day brought wheat farmers out of their cozy farm shops and into town for a seminar on the future of the wheat industry. Nearly 50 producers from around the Texas Panhandle came to the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo Feb. 21. They heard speakers from the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, the Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas A&M University and Kansas State University present a wheat research, marketing, crop protection and variety update seminar. The all-day session covered the Texas wheat seed certification process, quality-based wheat marketing and grazing issues, new wheat varieties and wheat breeding, and certified wheat seed royalties. Certified seed production Joe Minshew, Texas Department of Agriculture, began the morning with a refresher course on the importance of the wheat seed certification process in the state. He explained that certified seed acreage in Texas is on the rise, and that 2007 saw 15 percent of all plantings were to certified seed production. "The wheat market has people interested in planting wheat again," Minshew said. "They will spend money on quality seed." As a certifying agency, the Texas Department of Agriculture is the non-biased third party who protects the farmer and ensures that the seed he's paying for is quality seed. The process to grow certified seed is simple. First, a grower has to be approved by the TDA as a state certified seed grower. They are then licensed by the Texas Seed and Plant Board. After that, the grower has to apply for field inspection by one of the official agency inspectors. They look for general quality in the crop, and are watchful of any large weed infestations that could harm the purity of the certified seed. Minshew reminded growers interested in raising certified seed that the purity goes beyond the field. Farmers have to be careful to clean out their combines, trucks and hauling equipment, their bins, drills, seed cars and more. For more information, growers can visit www.tda.state.tx.us. Quality based wheat marketing Mark Hodges, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, then spoke on the value of quality based wheat marketing. He reminded producers that "you don't sell wheat--you sell what wheat will do. "So, if it doesn't produce an end product, then we've failed," he said. Quality is a matter of perspective, and producers should try to remember that they are growing wheat for a customer, an end user, he added. He also reminded growers that wheat purchasing is a different ball game than it was years ago. "Today, 70 percent of the worldwide purchasing is done by companies, rather than countries," Hodges said. Companies are facing competition, whereas countries used wheat purchases for political gain. "If you can't compete on price, how will you compete?" Hodges asked. "You compete on price, quality and service to the customer." The challenge to producers, Hodges continued, is how to keep the value in wheat when it's a co-mingled product. Plains Grains, Inc., he said, found that millers and bakers are willing to pay more for wheat in large quantities that offer the same quality time and time again. This helps them by reducing the time to re-adjust machinery between batches. At regional shipping points, there is a push to test for quality parameters, which offers the customer more value. Plains Grains, Inc., then takes this information and offers it to buyers and end users so they can more easily find the right qualities of grain that best fit their needs. "Consistency sells the customer and reduces the risk for the seller, which equals more value," Hodges said. "And, the customer is willing to share that value with the producer through premiums for wheat." Grazing or growing wheat Stan Bevers, professor and Extension economist for Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Vernon, challenged growers to decide if they are wheat farmers or stockers this year. With high wheat prices, many wheat farmers in the Panhandle are re-evaluating their historical use of wheat pasture for grazing stockers. "Are you a wheat farmer?" he asked. "Are you growing wheat for its yield potential and looking at stockers as a potential second income to spread your risk? Or, are you a stocker, who's more interested in growing more forage for stocker cattle and want a wheat crop that grows better, earlier and longer?" With wheat at $10 per bushel or more, wheat growers and stockers should sit down and pencil out the costs and benefits of putting cattle out on wheat pasture this year. They need to account for higher lease rates on wheat pasture, and the low price of cattle if they are owned or leased. He showed an example of a test farm's balance sheet, which also took into account higher input costs, and higher costs of gains in the feedyard because of higher corn prices. "If lease prices go up, it's not that you're growing $10 wheat, it's the cost of inputs for a replacement ration," he reminded producers. Bevers warned that input costs will most likely continue to rise and that now more than ever growers should be aware of their balance sheets. "We'll probably always run cattle, it's just important to know all the costs," Bevers said. "Whether you're wheat farmers who are spreading your risks or stocker operators looking for efficient gains." The afternoon speaker list included Allan Fritz, a wheat breeder at Kansas State University, who discussed private and public wheat breeding collaborations and Steve Brown, director of the Texas Foundation Seed Service, who explained why growers pay royalties on certified wheat seed. The seminar was sponsored by Texas AgriLife Research, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, AgriPro Wheat and the Texas Seed Trade Association. Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com. 1/5/99 Date: 3/6/08
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