Northern Plains Edition
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April 28, 2009
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A Penton Media Property
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Vol. 1, No. 7
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Click
here to see how DuPont™ Affinity® TankMix herbicide (with
TotalSol® soluble granules) helps control tough weeds that your
wheat program misses.
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Combines Greased And Ready To Roll
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By Larry Stalcup
 Despite widespread reports of freeze damage,
too-little-too-late rainfall and more drought concerns, growers and
custom harvesters have to be optimistic that harvesttime is fast
approaching in southern areas and will hit northern states before you
know it.
And while winter wheat growers prepare for harvest, those with spring
wheat in their rotations are still determining how many acres will see
wheat seed as opposed to corn, soybeans and other crops.
No matter which season of wheat you grow, university wheat specialists
and others encourage growers to use wise management decisions before,
during and after harvest. Those decisions should include sound risk
management, both for wheat prices and for crop protection.
Oklahoma State University’s grain marketing guru Kim Anderson analyzes
crop conditions and pricing strategies below. Other wheat experts
discuss growing techniques in this issue of e-Wheat.
We at Corn & Soybean Digest and Farm Press hope you have
enjoyed the e-Wheat newsletters this winter and spring. After
this issue, we will take a break until the fall, when e-Wheat is
scheduled to return to provide you with further information on wheat
producing and pricing and other topics which can impact your farming
operation. We thank DuPont for its continued sponsorship of
eWheat and encourage you to visit its Web sites to learn more
about its products and services.
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By Kim Anderson, Oklahoma State University grain
marketing economist
 After last
Monday's 10¢/bu. price decline, wheat prices increased 25¢ and
finished 15¢ higher for the week (although prices were off some 25¢
yesterday partially due to the swine flu scare worldwide). Higher prices
are partially due to delayed spring wheat planting and partially due to
the severity of wheat losses in Oklahoma and Texas. There also appears
to be a shortage of deliverable spring wheat, which increases the demand
for hard red winter (HRW) wheat. A short spring wheat crop may create a
protein premium for HRW wheat.
Reports are starting to be released about the freeze damage to the
Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas wheat crops. Average Texas wheat production
is about 96 million bushels. In April 2008, 48% of the Texas wheat crop
was poor to very poor, and 19% was good to excellent. The April 2008
wheat crop condition index was 45 and Texas 2008 wheat production was
105 million bushels. The current April 2009 index is 28, and 74% of the
wheat crop is in poor to very poor condition.
Only 8% of the Texas wheat crop is in good to excellent condition.
Texas wheat production may be less than 50 million bushels. Oklahoma's
wheat crop is rated 60% poor to very poor, 28% fair, 12% good and none
excellent. In 2008, the Oklahoma wheat crop was rated 17% poor to very
poor and 55% good to excellent. Oklahoma 2008 wheat production was 128
million bushels, compared to average production of 129 million bushels.
Analysts have estimated 2009 wheat production to be between 60 and 90
million bushels.
For more on this story, click
here
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BakingBusiness.com reports that Canadian farmers
intend to plant more spring wheat, corn, barley, soybeans and flaxseed
but less durum, canola and oats this year than a year ago.
Statistics Canada shows that farmers indicate they intend to plant
25,161,400 acres to all wheat this year, up 151,700 acres, or 0.6%, from
25,009,700 acres last year. Intended seedings of spring wheat other than
durum were 17,328,000 acres, up 964,900 acres, or 6%, from 16,363,100
acres in 2008.
For more on this story,
click
here
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Can Trade With Cuba Be Far Behind?
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Action taken by President Barack Obama last week could
mean normalized trade relations with Cuba could resume within a few
years. The president lifted all restrictions on family visits and
remittances for Cuban-Americans and directed the U.S. government to take
steps that will facilitate greater contact between separated family
members in the U.S. and Cuba.
It would also increase the flow of information and humanitarian
resources directly to the Cuban people. The president also called on the
Cuban government to reduce the charges it levies on cash remittances
sent to the island.
According to Rebecca Bratter, director of policy, U.S. Wheat Associates
(USW), the actions still impact the measures that restrict the free flow
of trade between the U.S. and Cuba as well as additional sales of U.S.
wheat. However, U.S. Wheat Associates remains optimistic that the effort
will lead to full normalization in the near future, including a full
repeal of the travel ban for all U.S. and Cuban citizens and easing of
cash before shipment payment restrictions.
For more on this story, click
here
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Commodity Groups Talk Crop Insurance Before House Ag
Committee
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The federal crop insurance program was a hot topic at a
hearing of the House Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk
Management late last week. Montana wheat producer Bing Von Bergen
testified on behalf of National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG). Von
Bergen is both president of the Montana Grain Growers Association and
the immediate past chairman of the NAWG domestic and trade policy
committee.
For more on this story, click
here
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Click here
to see how DuPont can help you weather the storm.
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Bread's Continued Resistance To Recession
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By Morton Sosland, BakingBusiness.com
Being called "recession-proof" or even the more
positive "recession-fueled" is the sort of designation that doesn’t
very often happen to baking. Yet, that is the very description just won
from one of the leading market research firms, Mintel.
This assessment was made by Mintel after reviewing and revising its
previous forecasts of food and many other industries in the wake of the
recession. For the food and drinks business in general, the firm
concludes that "markets are actually being improved by recessionary
woes."
For more on this story, click
here
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Climate Change Discussions Heat Up Following EPA
Action
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Climate change discussions heated up another notch last
week following official word on Friday from the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) that it would seek to regulate greenhouse gases. That
announcement, which many believed was imminent, is helping to form a
consensus around a legislative approach to the climate change issue, a
path praised by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and President Obama.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held four hearings including 50
witnesses on the issue this week, with a mark-up of draft legislation
scheduled for this week. Energy and Commerce leaders have indicated they
plan to finish committee work on the bill before Memorial Day.
For more on this story, click
here
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New Decision Aid Offered By Agricultural Food Policy
Center
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Growers may still be pondering whether to use the new
Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program. The Agricultural and Food
Policy Center at Texas A&M University has released new decision aid
software that will help crop producers assess the risk of receiving farm
program payments.
For more on this story, click
here
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Louisiana farmers and other southern growers planted
less wheat than last year, but early herbicide applications and disease
control can aid producers, according to reports from this month’s
Louisiana State University (LSU) annual wheat and oat field day at the
Macon Ridge Research Station.
Like in some other southern areas, fertilizer prices kept some farmers
from planting wheat. But those with wheat worried that the cold
temperatures that hampered northern wheat areas would dip too farm down
south. In addition, growers are worrying about weed outbreaks and other
problems.
For more on this story, click
here
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Get To Know Wheat Berries
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The Food Network kitchens remind growers and
consumers that wheat berries are a true whole grain and can add fun to
baking. You may not recognize the name, but without these kernels, there
would be no flour. Wheat berries are loaded with nutrients and are as
easy as rice to prepare and perfect for a meal any time of year.
For more on this story, click
here
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Take Part In Corn & Soybean Digest
Poll
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If you haven't already done so, please take part in an
anonymous Corn & Soybean Digest (CSD) quick poll. The most
recently posted question is:
What is your main limiting resource?– time, operating capital or
know-how on using new technologies. Answer the question and view
quick poll results on CSD's home page at cornandsoybeandigest.com.
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Growers, What New Creations Are You Using?
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Dear Corn & Soybean Digest reader – If you
haven’t already, it’s about time to get out into those fields and
start the 2009 planting season. What new creations will you be using in
your spring fieldwork? Did you modify anything over the winter months?
Build a new implement in the warm shop while the temps fell outside?
Corn & Soybean Digest wants to know!
When it’s time to get out to the field with your newest project,
we’d like to be right there with you to see what new or different
ideas took shape with the torch and welder through the winter. If you or
someone you know has built or modified machinery, we’d like to hear
from you. No idea is too big or too small. We’re interested in
machinery that’s been built from scratch, or several pieces of
equipment that have been torn down and re-assembled as a single unit, or
simple modifications to existing equipment.
It’s always interesting to see anhydrous applicators, planters,
sprayers and tillage tools that farmers have constructed to help them
farm better, bigger or more efficiently. Also, we’re interested in any
cost-cutting ideas that you’ve been doing to stay profitable. For
example, have you been involved in any machinery sharing ventures, group
input buying clubs, etc.? We can’t promise that we’ll get to every
farm, but we promise to try. If you have an idea you’d like to share,
please send an e-mail to CSD@csdigest.com or call Managing
Editor Susan Winsor at 952-851-4662, or click below to enter your
project. We will be in touch.
Tell us about your creation! insidepenton.com/research/sg/csd09shopproject.htm".
Thanks for your help,
The Editors
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AgriBusiness Job Web Site
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Go to www.agribizjobs.com/home and
view some great opportunities for job seekers and ag companies looking
for good employees. The site, part of Penton Media’s Ag Group, of
which Corn & Soybean Digest and Farm Press are members, has a
targeted online career center. Agribizjobs.com offers industry employers
a growing, qualified audience of ag professionals and industry job
seekers with agribusiness-specific categorized job listings. It’s a
joint effort by Corn & Soybean Digest, Farm Press and sister
publications, BEEF, Farm Industry News, Hay & Forage Grower and National
Hog Farmer.
At www.agribizjobs.com/home
employers can view complete but anonymous resumes for free, and pay only
to connect with a job seeker. Job seekers can post resumes in
ag-specific employment categories and sign up to receive e-mail alerts
when new positions are posted that match their search
criteria.
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Thanks For Viewing eWheat
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If you have any questions, comments or suggestions on
the content of this newletter, please e-mail beef2lar@suddenlink.net. Also,
thanks to our exclusive sponsor, DuPont, and its products and services
for growers like you.
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