Washington, DC
January 25, 2007
Source:
US Wheat Associates
Wheat Letter
More than 60 U.S. wheat growers came together in Washington,
D.C., for the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Winter Board Meeting
January 21 to 22, 2007. This annual event brings together
growers who help fund USW through state wheat or grain
commissions to learn about and direct USW activities to develop
and expand international markets for U.S. wheat.
The USW Board parcels out significant responsibility to
committees chaired by grower members. In addition to
administrative oversight, several committees study and prepare
recommendations in areas that affect the ability of growers to
deliver reliable supplies of high quality wheat to a hungry,
growing world. Here’s a look at some of the work done this week:
Wheat quality
The purpose of the Wheat Quality Committee is to enhance the
value of U.S. wheat in the export marketplace. To that end, the
committee reviewed and recommended:
- Continuing efforts to
discourage production of wheat varieties that may offer high
yields but not the milling and/or baking quality demanded by
domestic and foreign buyers;
- Formalizing a process for
evaluating and selecting the most viable specialty wheat
products that would benefit from market development
assistance;
- Supporting the work of the
National Wheat Improvement Committee and the Agricultural
Research Service Wheat Quality Laboratories.
Sanitary and
phytosanitary issues
One of USW’s objectives is to keep U.S. growers up-to-date about
export country sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements and
to keep those buyers informed about how U.S. wheat meets those
requirements. This committee identified several opportunities to
engage cooperative efforts between growers, grain handlers, the
Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) and the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to address these issues. As
USW Board member Brian O’Toole reported after visiting FGIS and
several buyers on a recent Board Team Trip to Asia, “America's
grain inspection system is second to none, and I know the
highest quality wheat in the world leaves our ports.”
Hard white wheat
HW is not yet a major U.S. wheat class, primarily because the
volume is not sufficient to consistently return profits to the
supply chain. However, a growing demand for HW in many of our
overseas and domestic markets keeps a vision for and passion to
create “critical mass” for HW moving forward. The committee
reviewed and selected a new concept that will seek support from
various governmental and nongovernmental resources to help
create economic incentives to produce and handle HW. The USW
Board approved the recommendation and the initiative is already
taking shape.
Biotechnology
USW and NAWG maintain a Joint Biotechnology committee because
concerns about production profitability and a sustained reliable
wheat supply drive the considerable interest in biotechnology
among growers.
In the U.S., corn is king in the heated ethanol conversation.
Corn prices have doubled since last fall, widening the margin
gap between wheat and corn. Corn’s biotechnology advantages are
huge. Yes, higher prices bought about nine percent more winter
wheat hectares last fall, but the forecast calls for a
significant reduction in high-protein spring wheat production as
growers switch to more profitable crops (see “Wheat price
history and outlook” story in this issue).
Additional supply pressures that technology may ease also exist.
For example, scientists from the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners recently reported
that a majority of the world’s wheat germ plasm, including last
year’s rust resistant wheat lines, is susceptible to the Ug99
stem rust strain. So at least one of the naturally occurring
stem rust resistance genes that have protected many of the
world’s wheats is no longer effective.
While FGIS certifies that there are no transgenic wheat
varieties for sale or in commercial production in the United
States at this time, dozens of projects around the world to
develop genetically modified wheat are underway. The fact is the
world is rapidly adopting biotech crops. The International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications just
reported that planted biotech crops broke the 100 million
hectare mark for the first time in 2006.
The joint committee reaffirmed the industry’s position on
biotechnology and expressed support for USW efforts to inform
overseas buyers about that position. Click here to read the
joint USW/NAWG statement, or
visit
http://www.uswheat.org/biotechnology.
An aggressive agenda also included meetings of the Food Aid
Working Group (see “Keeping the food in food aid” story below),
the Long-Range Planning Committee, the Joint Trade Policy
Committee and the Budget Committee, which heard independent
auditors offer accolades to USW for its stewardship of producer
funds and government program resources. |
