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Quality, quantity give U.S. wheat a competitive edgeKansas Above-average quality of the 2008 Kansas Hard Red Winter wheat crop is translating to above-average international sales, according to U.S. Wheat Associates, a farmer-funded group that markets U.S. wheat around the world. The Aug. 7 USWA Commercial Sales Report shows that Hard Red Winter wheat sales are up 906,000 metric tons over this time last year--a 16 percent increase over last year's figures. John Oades, vice president of U.S. Wheat Associates and director of the farmer-funded wheat marketing group's Portland, Oregon office, says demand for U.S. Hard Red Winter wheat has grown in many key export countries for several reasons. Foremost, the large 2008 U.S. Hard Red Winter crop was good quality and readily available to the international marketplace earlier and for less money than the U.S. spring wheat crop. And, the supply of U.S. Hard Red Winter wheat is available earlier than the crops from Russia, France and Kazakhstan. Hard Red Wheat sales to Europe, Eastern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East all are well above last year's pace. "Sales of Hard Red Winter wheat are very aggressive," Oades said. "We can anticipate that it will slow down, however, if supplies of good quality wheat materialize from other countries." It is too early for definitive conclusions on crop quality from competitive countries, but Oades said rain in Germany toward the end of harvest could have a negative impact on that country's harvest. Meanwhile, the Ukraine Hard Red Winter wheat crop has been hampered by insect-related problems, which will force about 70 percent of the crop to be used for animal feed. "All eyes are on the Australian crop, which will be harvested in December," Oades said. "It is off to a better start than the drought-induced crop of the last two years. If Australia has a large crop, our sales in Southern Asia will be negatively affected. If the Russian and Black Sea crop is big, that affects sales to the Middle East and Caribbean, where the Black Sea has a huge freight advantage." The Kansas crop was summarized Aug. 18 in a Kansas Agricultural Statistics Wheat Quality Report. (Funded by the Kansas Wheat Commission, the report is available online at http://www.ksda.gov/statistics/). Data was taken from 11,245 carlot samples from 52 counties; the average test weight of these samples was 60.4 pounds per bushel. Last year's average was 59.3 pounds and the 10-year average from 1994-2003 is 60.4 pounds per bushel. Samples of wheat grading No. 1, at 71 percent, are up 16 points from last year, while 26 percent of the crop graded No. 2, compared to 32 percent in 2007. Three percent of the crop graded No. 3 or below. Wheat samples averaged 0.6 percent damaged kernels, the same as for 2007 and the 10-year average. Foreign material content tested 0.1 percent, the same as in 2007 and equaling the 10-year average; shrunken and broken kernels averaged 1.3 percent, compared to 1.7 percent last year and the same as the 10-year average. Protein averaged 12.4 percent, compared with 11.7 percent last year and the 10-year average of 12.3 percent. Moisture content averaged 11.3 percent, compared with 12 percent last year and 11.5 percent for the 10-year average. After disappointing wheat quality in the 2006 and 2007 wheat harvests, the U.S. milling industry - which processes half a typical Kansas wheat crop - is elated with this year's production. "Millers I've talked to have been milling 2008 wheat for the last several weeks. Everyone is happy," said Mark Fowler, flour milling specialist at Kansas State University's International Grains Program. "Last year, we had too low protein and the year before, too high protein. It's back to a normal wheat crop and millers are generally very pleased." 9/1/08 Date: 8/28/08 Advertisement
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