Wheat

Harvest Hopes Fade as Winter Wheat Withers in West Texas Fields

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:42:38 GMT

In the fields surrounding Plainview, Texas, the story of this year’s winter wheat crop isn’t told in golden waves ready for harvest. Instead, fields have been searching for rain since last fall, leaving struggling wheat plants clawing for survival in powder-dry soil.

“Wow, that’s dry,” say Steve Olson, a farmer in Plainview, Texas.

That offhand remark from Olson comes as he bends down and sifts through brittle earth, capturing the severity of conditions across the Southern Plains. What was once expected to be a harvestable crop has already been written off by most farmers, as even the winter wheat that’s under irrigation won’t make it to harvest this year.

Dry and cracked soils are a sign of just how severe the drought is in the Southern Plains. Most of these fields around Plainview, Texas haven’t seen rain since last fall. And even this field, which is irrigated, shows scars from this year’s drought.

(Tyne Morgan )

A Crop That Never Had a Chance

Olson had every intention of taking his wheat to harvest this year. His wheat field saw about 8 inches of irrigation water this winter, but as the season progressed, warning signs became impossible to ignore. And nearly two weeks ago, the reality set in.

“When we saw the plants this small with the flag leaf starting to come out, we knew that we didn’t have enough plant structure there to be able to support a head that we can harvest,” Olson explains.

That realization came quickly, marking a turning point for many growers in the region.

Winter wheat relies heavily on fall and winter moisture to establish strong root systems and vegetative growth. This year, those rains simply didn’t come.

Months Without Moisture

Across much of West Texas, measurable rainfall has been largely absent since last fall.

“We got a few tenths a couple of days ago,” Olson says, gesturing to a slightly greener patch of field. “Before that? Since November… maybe October.”

That timeline underscores the depth of the drought. Without consistent moisture, wheat plants remained stunted, some only standing six to eight inches tall at this point, while prematurely attempting to reproduce.

“The flag leaf is starting to come out,” Olson notes. “So it’s trying to put a head out… all it’s wanting to do is reproduce. And it won’t be enough to ever harvest this.”

With wheat barely a foot tall, the flag leaf is already emerging—a sign the crop is rushing to reproduce under stress, leaving too little structure to support a harvest. Olson estimates less than 10% of the winter wheat planted may be harvested in West Texas.

(Mike Byers )

Widespread Abandonment Across the Plains

From the ground, and even more so from the air, the situation is stark. Fields across the region appear thin and uneven, with large stretches unlikely to ever see a combine.

Olson estimates the scale of loss is staggering:

“I’ll bet you maybe 10% of the wheat—maybe 5%—that was planted will actually ever be harvested,” says Olson.

This field of Olson’s saw about 8 inches of irrigation water this winter, but even with the aid from irrigation, the drought, heat and wind extremes have been too much for the Texas winter wheat crop this year.

(Mike Byers )

That means the overwhelming majority of acres will be abandoned, grazed out, or terminated to make way for alternative crops.

“It’s really kind of sad,” he adds. “It’s one of the few crops you can keep some seed in and not be that big a deal. And of course, without the seed, we’ll be buying wheat.”

Olson isn’t alone. The first Crop Progress report of the year from USDA shows across Texas, more than half of the winter wheat is rated poor to very poor.

“Things are looking pretty rough, as we get into the heart of this early growing season for 2026,” USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey told AgDay earlier this week.

Shifting Plans, Uncertain Future

With wheat prospects fading fast, attention is turning to spring planting decisions—though those, too, hinge on one critical factor: rain.

“It would honestly take about four inches before we would have a three-foot profile,” Olson says. “And it’s going to have to fall right to be able to do that.”

Even irrigation offers limited reassurance. In extremely dry soils, water can disappear quickly into deep cracks or channels, failing to adequately recharge the root zone.

“You can watch the pivots run, and they’ll just find a hole and that water’s just going down,” he explains.

Holding Onto Hope

Despite the bleak outlook, Olson maintains a long-view perspective shaped by experience—and faith.

“It looks bleak,” he admits. “But it doesn’t stay dry forever. It doesn’t stay wet forever.”

For now, West Texas farmers are left balancing tough agronomic decisions with cautious optimism. The fate of the 2026 spring crop—and recovery from this year’s wheat losses—will depend on whether the skies finally open.

Until then, fields like Olson’s stand as a reminder of how quickly conditions can shift, and how fragile even the most carefully planned growing season can be, as he now may be forced to change his spring planting plans this year, too.

Corteva’s Hybrid Wheat Aims to Close the Yield Gap with Corn and Soybeans

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:29:52 GMT

Corteva Agriscience is betting its new hybrid technology will change the trajectory of U.S. wheat yields. The company plans to introduce its first hybrid wheat seed product in 2027 and then expand into additional wheat classes by the end of the decade, according to Dan Wiersma, global product manager for wheat at Corteva.

He notes the company has been working to develop hybrid wheat for over 30 years. “What’s different now is we finally have a system that’s efficient, stable and broad enough in its genetic fit to make sense for farmers,” he says.

Hybrid Wheat, A Difficult Nut To Crack

For years, seed companies and researchers tried to make hybrid wheat work, but most attempts fell short, according to David Bowen, data lead within the digital seeds group in research and development at Corteva. The main challenge was how to produce hybrid seed efficiently and reliably. The biology, genetics, and economics never lined up well enough to make hybrid wheat work at scale in the past.

“There was too much cost and inconsistency,” he reports.

A turning point came in 2018, after the wheat genome was mapped and then published by the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), a global collaboration of over 200 researchers from 73 institutions.

Five years later, in 2023, Syngenta was able to launch three hybrid hard red spring wheat products in the U.S. Northern Plains under the AgriPro brand.

HRS wheat is considered the “aristocrat of wheat” used in designer wheat foods such as bagels, artisan health breads, pizza crust and other strong dough applications, according to the U.S. Wheat Associates.

The bulk of HRS wheat is grown in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho and Washington.

Hard Red Winter Wheat Is Up Next

Corteva’s initial launch, expected in 2027, will be a hard red winter hybrid. The product has been built around what is known as a nuclear male sterility (NMS) system. Unlike the earlier system used, cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), the sterility gene for NMS is in the nucleus —where most of the DNA is better understood, more controllable and stable – the latter two are especially important in highly variable field conditions.

The advantage of this approach with NMS, Wiersma says, is efficiency and flexibility. The system doesn’t require extra “restorer lines,” which simplifies seed production and reduces cost.

“Where CMS can be limited in the genetics it works with, this system has worked with all the germplasm we’ve applied it to,” he says. “In our testing, we’ve not seen any breakdown of the sterility system. That’s critical. Other systems can be a lot more environmentally sensitive.”

That stability and breadth matter because they allow Corteva to chase greater genetic gain—bringing in a wide range of parent lines, testing broadly and selecting harder and faster for yield, resilience and disease resistance.

Farmers Need Higher Yielding Wheat Products

The most obvious question from growers is simple: what will these hybrids actually deliver in the field?

Wiersma doesn’t hesitate. “The No. 1 benefit is yield and productivity,” he says. “We expect the first product we release to deliver a 10-plus-percent yield advantage over the leading competitive varieties.”

Wiersma says the yield advantage researchers have seen for the company’s wheat hybrid testing grows even more striking under stress. In water-limited environments, where overall yield levels fall for every wheat product, Corteva has seen a valuable advantage for its new technology.

“It’s lower yielding of course, because of the stress, but the yield advantage [over existing wheat products] jumps to 20-plus percent. The crop is just more stable under those stressful conditions,” he says. “That’s the heterosis effect of hybrids—hybrid vigor—which we really haven’t been able to experience in wheat before.”

That hybrid vigor shows up not just in top-end yield but in resilience and standability under tough weather and resource constraints. For wheat growers accustomed to watching corn and soybeans outpace them in genetic progress, the performance is attention-grabbing.

“There’s a real hunger for new technology in wheat,” Wiersma says. “You look at the yields of corn and soybeans, and they’ve gone up pretty steady. Wheat hasn’t quite kept up. With wheat hybrids, we get a step change, plus we get a better rate of genetic gain. It’s not just the normal, everyday gain—it actually goes up at a steeper level.”

Traditional, Conventional Plant Breeding At Work

Just as important for many farmers, Corteva’s hybrids are conventionally bred. There is no gene editing and no genetically modified (GMO) traits.

“We don’t have gene editing, we don’t have GMOs—none of that to worry about. That’s a great advantage,” he says.

That conventional status means growers can focus on agronomics and economics, rather than worrying about trait approval or market acceptance. It also means they don’t have to rethink their fertilizer strategies or field operations to accommodate the new hybrids.

“We treat our hybrid plots and competitor varieties exactly the same,” Wiersma says. “We don’t expect to have to change any management practices to grow hybrid wheat as compared to varietal wheat.”

For millers, bakers and grain buyers, the concern is grain quality. Wiersma is acutely aware that pushing yield harder can sometimes tempt breeders to let quality slip. He insists that Corteva has built quality safeguards into the program from the start.

“People worry that if you crank up yield, grain quality will go down,” he says. “We’ve been testing and have a pretty extensive program around quality, because we know that’s a sensitive area. We have to maintain grain quality that’s good for the end user—the millers and so forth. That’s been a vital part of the program.”

Beyond yield and quality, Wiersma sees hybrids as a powerful tool to accelerate gains in disease resistance and pest tolerance. Because hybrids combine genetics from two parents, breeders can bring together better packages faster than in a straight varietal system.

Corteva is also leaning into the sustainability narrative, which is straightforward: more grain grown on the same land, with the same inputs. In trials, hybrid and varietal plots are given the same fertilizer, the same water and the same management. When the hybrids deliver 10 percent or more yield on that same foundation, they effectively improve output per unit of input.

“If we can grow 10 percent more yield on the same nutrients, the same water, the same inputs—that’s a more sustainable approach,” he says.

More Hybrid Wheat Products Under Development

Looking ahead, Wiersma says the 2026 season will be a build year, not a go-to-market year. Much of the work remains behind the scenes as Corteva refines products, scales seed production and trains internal teams.

The company will introduce its first hybrid in 2027, with an initial, limited commercial launch centered in Kansas.

“Initially, we’re going to market through the Pioneer channel,” Wiersma says. “We’ve got a good distribution of sales reps around the country. We feel that’s the best support the farmer will get, because we have a great agronomy team and a well-trained team of salespeople that can support the product.”

For growers in Kansas and surrounding hard red winter regions, that means the first step in accessing hybrid wheat will be as simple as talking with their local Pioneer representative. As the technology matures, Corteva plans to expand into the soft red wheat market around 2029, followed by hard red spring wheat around 2030, with breeding programs already active in all three classes.

Asked what message he most wants to leave with wheat farmers today, Wiersma comes back to timing and opportunity for the new hybrid technology.

“Be patient,” he says with a smile. “It’s coming.”

Kansas Wheat Yields, Quality Take A Hit From Disease Complex

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 13:39:19 GMT

Mother Nature took a toll on Kansas winter wheat this season, with USDA rating the crop – at the harvest halfway mark earlier this week – at only 48% reaching good to excellent quality.

Beyond inclement weather, it was a small, cigar-shaped pest – the wheat curl mite – that delivered one of the harshest yield blows to the crop this year, according to Romulo Lollato, wheat and forages Extension specialist, Kansas State University (K-State).

The small pest is a vector of wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), one of the most destructive wheat disease complexes in the U.S. and around the world. The disease complex can be caused by several viruses, including wheat streak mosaic virus, Triticum mosaic virus, and wheat mosaic virus (High Plains).

The issue is widespread, well beyond Kansas. Other top wheat-producing states have the pest and WSMV, as well, including Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.

Kansas was hit hard this season, Lollato reports.

“There are farm fields out here that got completely decimated,” he says.

Extension field test trial results show yield losses can range from 30% to 80% from WSMV. Fifteen percent yield losses in a single field are common, adds the Kansas Wheat Commission.

Weather Conditions Are A Factor

Lollato believes the warm fall in 2024 created ideal conditions for the mites to thrive and deliver the disease to wheat crops this season.

“If we think back on the conditions last fall, it was actually one of the warmest ones on the record here, and the mites really prefer temperatures at 70-plus degrees” he says. “The mites reproduce very quickly under those conditions.”

By early to mid-April this year, Lollato says the impact of the mites and WSMV complex was readily apparent in Kansas.

“We started to see that disease explode, and while it’s typically more localized in the western third of the state, this year, it really is across the entire state,” he says.

Control Volunteer Wheat And Other Crop Hosts

As wheat harvest finishes up this summer, what farmers do next will largely determine what happens in the 2026 season.

The curl wheat mite moves into volunteer wheat post-harvest and that “green bridge” then allows the pest to move into the next wheat crop, once planted, and contribute to disease issues the following season.

(X (formerly Twitter) post)

Lollato explains the pest survives on volunteer wheat and other host plants, contributing to what the wheat industry refers to as the green bridge effect during the post-harvest period. In the fall, the mites are carried by wind from volunteer wheat to newly emerged winter wheat crops, perpetuating WSMV.

Jeanne Falk Jones , multi-county agronomy specialist with K-State Research and Extension, writes that volunteer wheat needs to be addressed.

“It is critical that all volunteer wheat within one-half mile (of your field) be completely dead at least two weeks prior to planting (your next crop),” she advises. “Volunteer wheat can be controlled by working the ground or by herbicide application.”

Grazing volunteer wheat is not an effective option for control, she adds, because there is green wheat material left and the mites can be living in that material.

To address WSMV proactively, Jones encourages wheat growers to walk their wheat stubble this summer and check for volunteer wheat and then devise a control measure, if needed.

“It may save your (or your neighbor’s) wheat yields this next harvest,” she says.

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Spring Wheat Crop Off to Worst Start in 37 Years

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 20:45:14 GMT

The nation’s spring wheat crop got off to one of the worst starts in 37 years with an initial rating of 45% good to excellent.

While conditions improved this week to 50%, there are still production issues that may not heal with the hot, dry extended forecast.

North Dakota Crop Sees Weather Extremes

Initial ratings for top producer, North Dakota, were just 37% good to excellent. That improved 11% this week, but is well under last year.

Randy Martinson, Martinson Ag, Fargo, North Dakota says, “The spring wheat conditions came in, below 50%, some of the lowest we’ve seen in years on the first look at with the crop and almost over 20% lower than anticipated by the trade. So, nobody was anticipating to see the spring wheat conditions come in that low.”

He says North Dakota’s crop has been plagued by various weather extremes.

“The cold temperatures, the late plantings, I think all of that and then you know those five days of 90 degree heat and the wind I think took a lot of life out of that wheat market and then we cooled right back down again.”

Drought Plagues Western North Dakota and Montana

Western North Dakota is also seeing drought, which extends from the Canadian Prairies. It includes Montana where the crop is only rated 33% good.

Kevin Duling, KD Investors, says, “They just didn’t get get the stand of wheat that they wanted it just is patchy. It’s spotty. It’s just not it’s not uniform and and and there’s spots that are spots that look great, but you know overall it’s obviously not very good.”

Pacific Northwest Crop Deteriorating

Duling is located in Maupin, OR and says the crop in the Pacific Northwest looked good to start but is now deteriorating and so is his production outlook.

“You know, May was dry, April was dry, and now we’re gonna get hot, and everything’s going backwards pretty quickly. So now I’m actually moving below average for the Pacific Northwest.”

And production was already threatened as farmers were only estimated to plant 10 million acres of spring wheat, down 6% from 2024.

Allison Thompson, The Money Farm, Ada, MN, says only 9.4 million were Hard Red Spring wheat.

“We’re already looking at lower acres this year, it just puts more pressure on that market. And we’ve also seen good exports in wheat.”

Plus, drought in the Canadian Prairies has cut yield potential there.

So far, the futures market response has been muted but analysts still have hope for a rally.

51% of U.S. Wheat Crop Scores ‘Good to Excellent’ Rating

Fri, 09 May 2025 18:51:30 GMT

USDA pegged 51% of the U.S. crop at good to excellent earlier this week. That percentage is up 2% from last week and is nearly identical to what the USDA ratings were at this time last year.

Parts of the Central and Southern Plains have been seeing some timely and beneficial rains, contributing to the wheat quality. The largest producer of hard red winter wheat, Kansas, has also seen some recent moisture.

USDA currently rates winter wheat in Kansas at 47% good to excellent, which is a gain of six points in the last two weeks alone and well above the 34% rating at this same time in 2024.

Crop conditions could improve more next week with cool temperatures and recent moisture. But while rains were timely, coverage was spotty in the state, according to Aaron Harries, vice president of research and operations for Kansas Wheat.

“There are parts of the state that did not get the benefit of the rain. Southwest Kansas is really receiving some good rains, but there are isolated pockets in central Kansas and north-central and northwest Kansas that are still dry,” Harries says.

He adds that those are the larger production areas in Kansas, for some of those fields the moisture may have come too late.

“Because the wheat was so drought-stressed and short, those are a lot of acres that will have below-average yields,” he explains.

A Repeat Of 2024?
Scouts will determine how much the lack of widespread rain impacts overall yield and ratings during the Kansas Wheat Quality Council’s annual crop tour next week.

“I’m interested to see what the group’s prediction is. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s very similar to what it was last year,” Harries says. “We might be shooting towards an average crop. I think whether it is an above-average crop, with regard to the five-year rolling average, is probably a little bit too much to ask for at this point.”

He says another unknown yield impact is disease pressure, noting that farmers are seeing Triticum mosaic and wheat streak mosaic.

“That is a viral disease transmitted by an insect called the wheat curl mite,” Harries explains, regarding wheat streak mosaic. “We’re seeing the virus pretty widespread in central and western Kansas, and the severity in some cases is pretty high.”

The impact disease pressure could have on Kansas wheat yields might not be known until the combines roll at harvest, now only a few weeks away.

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Is There Any War Premium Even in the Markets Today?

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 21:52:16 GMT

President Donald Trump said on the campaign trail he would end the war in Ukraine — and this week, he stated negotiations would start “immediately.”

The news came after President Trump held what he called a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday morning.

Then, later in the week, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky met face-to-face with Vice President JD Vance for highly anticipated talks at the Munich Security Conference, where Zelensky urged the United States “not to make any decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.”

Zelensky also said he would only meet in person with Putin if a common plan is negotiated with President Trump first. Zelenskyy also said he believes Trump is the key to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

As negotiations appear to be taking shape, the conflict in Ukraine has also been in focus for certain markets since Russia first invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago. The initial invasion sent wheat prices soaring.

So, it begs the question: is there a war premium built into the markets today? According to Joe Vaclavik of Standard Grain, the answer is simply, “no.”

“There’s no war premium, not in my opinion. You take a look at a wheat chart and go back to 2022 when prices spiked on the initial invasion. We’ve done nothing but trade lower in wheat for more than two years. It’s been a downtrend, a multiple year downtrend while the war was going on,” says Vaclavik.

Vaclavik points out wheat prices have seen strength lately and are basically back to pre-Covid levels.

“Why would I believe now that an end to the war is bearish when the price action has been nothing but bearish as the war has gone on for the last two years? I just don’t buy into that,” says Vilsack.

Chip Nellinger of Blue Reef Agri-Marketing agrees with Vaclavik, saying even if the war gets resolved, it doesn’t necessarily mean the situation in Ukraine will immediately turn back to normal.

“That winter wheat crop is in the ground already and struggling with dry weather over there. They’ve got cold temperatures. And so it is what it is on the wheat side,” says Nellinger.

Nellinger adds the wheat chart has turned more friendly, with wheat prices posting multi-year highs.

“Looks to me like the funds are about set to come out of their short position. You have more bullish fundamentals now than we’ve had in quite some time. So maybe a year out, 2026 or 2027, things start to get back to normal in Ukraine, but right now it is where it is and they’re not going to just magically produce record amounts of grain just with a peace agreement here over the next couple of weeks.”

Freezing Temps and Lack of Snow Cover Sprouts Concerns Over Severe Damage to Winter Wheat

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 15:57:56 GMT

Sub-freezing temperatures stretched from the Northern to the Southern U.S. last week, and with a lack of snow cover in many of those areas, there are fresh concerns it caused some winter kill damage to both classes of winter wheat.

The damage is just being assessed as temperatures warm up and allow the crop to thaw out, but the full extent might not be known until later in the season.

Drought Grips the Wheat Belt

Agronomists and producers often joke that winter wheat has nine lives. And the crop might have used one of those last week when production areas plunged into the deep freeze.

“At the height of the recent cold wave, the 19th through the 21st of January, subzero temperatures were noted across the Great Plains as far south as the northern Panhandle of Texas, and we saw widespread -20-degree readings and below across the Northern Plains,” says Brad Rippey, USDA Meteorologist.

Farmers are currently monitoring for signs of winter kill in both the hard red winter wheat crop in the Great Plains and soft red fields in the lower Midwest.

Drought continues to grip the western half of the U.S., hitting especially hard in parts of the Wheat Belt.

(U.S. Drought Monitor )

While 27% of U.S. winter wheat crop is under drought conditions, the Northern Plains wheat areas were especially dry.

“That lead to poor development of the crop last autumn,” Rippey says. “Poor establishment and some uneven emergence. “So, that crop already weakened by drought may have been finished off in some cases by the bitter cold of January.”

Many of those wheat fields also had a lack of insulating snow cover. However, the potential impact of freeze damage on yield potential might not be fully realized until well after the crop breaks dormancy.

“It will be several weeks before we know the full extent of any winter kill, and we will be monitoring further reports from USDA NASS, including the Feb. 5 state stories report, that will provide updated conditions,” Rippey says.

At the end of December anywhere from a quarter to one-third of the winter wheat was rated poor to very poor, with Nebraska and South Dakota in the epic center of the Northern Plains drought.

Impact on Prices

As damage concerns enter into the markets, Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group says the temperatures were ripe for damage to winter wheat exposed to such cold temperatures last week.

“I’ve walked to thousands of wheat fields, and they don’t always follow the textbook,” says Suderman. “What the textbook tells us is you can start getting damage when the temperatures drop five degrees below zero and colder. And we saw those types of temperatures without sufficient snow cover all the way from the Texas Panhandle to the eastern Midwest. If you look at the Plains’ hard red wheat crop, where the cold was most intense, two-thirds of the crop had conditions ripe for winter killed damage.”

Suderman points out it’s difficult to sustain a rally in the wheat market until you have proof significant damage occurred.

“We won’t have that until the crop breaks dormancy in another four to six weeks, so that’s why the market kind of hesitated and paused again after a quick rally on it,” Suderman says. “But with the world supplies tightening up, I do think it does provide some support underneath this market, particularly with problems with the Black Sea crop, as well.”

Companies Race to Bring More Hybrid Wheat to the U.S.

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 18:09:35 GMT

Success has been an elusive achievement for technology providers wanting to develop hybrid non-GMO wheat products for U.S. farmers.

Corteva is the latest company to announce its intention to develop proprietary non-GMO hybrid technology. It plans to launch hybrid hard red winter (HRW) wheat as early as 2027 in North America, adding to its portfolio over time, the company shared in a recent press release.

Corteva says its hybrid HRW wheat technology will:

1. Increase farmers’ yield potential by 10% while using the same amount of land and resources, providing significant promise for both farmers and global food security. (Based on internal yield trial testing; two years of testing on six to 10 locations per year in each of the market classes; and hard red winter testing in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma.)

2. Be more resistant to drought. Research trials show Corteva’s hybrid wheat can yield roughly 20% higher than elite varieties in water-stressed environments, which would help farmers better adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. (Based on internal yield trial testing; two years of testing on six to 10 locations per year in each of the market classes; and hard red winter testing in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma.)

3. Accelerate the speed to market of new elite germplasm by increasing the scale of parent seed production over competitors’ technology.

Wheat ranks third behind corn and soybeans among U.S. field crops in planted acreage, USDA says. Approximately 39.1 million acres of wheat were harvested this year.

A Look Behind and Forward
The development of hybrid non-GMO wheat products has netted a mixed bag of results for technology manufacturers, among them Syngenta, BASF and Bayer.

Bayer sold its research and development platform for hybrid wheat to BASF in 2018. “Bayer was required to divest the hybrid wheat program it was working on as part of the acquisition of Monsanto,” a Bayer spokesman told Farm Journal.

Since then, the company has begun working on a program to develop hybrid wheat in both the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., the company is building on its WestBred germplasm portfolio, “harnessing internal R&D to advance hybrid wheat and extend our seed offerings beyond varietal wheat,” the Bayer spokesman says.

In 2023, BASF announced its decision to pull its hybrid wheat development program from North America, despite 15 years of research. The company is continuing its hybrid wheat development work in Europe.

Different Products, Different Goals

While Bayer has regeared its efforts and BASF dropped out of the race, Syngenta has made inroads in developing and launching hybrid hard red spring wheat (HRS) commercially in the U.S.

In 2023, Syngenta launched three hybrid HRS wheat products in the U.S. Northern Plains under the AgriPro brand.

HRS wheat is considered the “aristocrat of wheat” used in designer wheat foods such as bagels, artisan health breads, pizza crust and other strong dough applications, according to the U.S. Wheat Associates.

In 2023, 5.6 million acres of HRS wheat were planted in the United States, a slight increase from 5.3 million acres in 2022. The bulk of HRS wheat is grown in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho and Washington.

More Acreage Potential?
Unlike Syngenta, Corteva is focusing its current development efforts on HRW, the most widely grown class of wheat in the U.S.

HRW is known for its consistency and milling efficiency. The U.S. Wheat Associates describes it as a reliable foundational ingredient for most wheat-based products.

In 2024, an estimated 24.1 million acres of HRW wheat was planted in the U.S., according to the USDA.

GMO Wheat Gains A Foothold
In total, there are seven different types of wheat grown in the U.S. today:

hard red winter
hard red spring
soft red winter
soft white
hard white winter
hard white spring
durum

Currently, none of the seven types is based on any genetic modification. But that could change with USDA’s decision this past August to give a green light to the commercial production of HB4 wheat.

HB4 is a genetically modified wheat variety developed by Bioceres Crop Solutions and features a trait for drought tolerance.

The U.S. joins Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay in authorizing HB4 wheat, which could mark a significant shift in the landscape of wheat production.

Although USDA’s ruling clears the regulatory pathway for cultivation of HB4 wheat in the U.S., there are several additional steps needed before HB4is grown commercially. These include the need to conduct closed-system field trials prior to commercialization.

U.S. Wheat Associates said in August the organization will continue monitoring Bioceres’ commercialization plans to ensure careful stewardship and alignment with the “ Wheat Industry Principles for Biotechnology Commercialization ” developed jointly with the National Association of Wheat Growers.

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A Work Of Art: The 108 Feet Tall Wheat Harvest Mural in Kansas That's Going Viral

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 18:41:41 GMT

It all started with an aging grain solo.

“It is 108 feet tall and 49 feet wide to be exact,” says Mindy Allen, owner of Mindy’s Murals in Junction City, Kan.

That one structure in Inman, Kan., served as Allen’s blank canvas, and over six weeks she transformed it into her largest mural yet.

As a full-time mural artist based in Kansas, she’s completed so many paintings and murals, Allen admits she’s actually lost count. But her latest masterpiece is one that took her more than a month to complete.

“It’s the largest on all aspects. I mean, largest as far as time frame, size, budget, exposure, every single thing about it. This is the biggest that I’ve ever done,” says Allen.

Odds are you’ve never even heard of Inman, Kansas. It’s situated in the central part of the state, but only boasts a population of just over 1,300 people. Until now, its identity was “a small town outside of McPherson,” but thanks to the larger-than-life mural, Inman has a new claim to fame.

“It took me six weeks, but I did take a lot of days off because of weather,” she says. “Between the wind and the rain, it just took time, but Mother Nature finally was like, ‘ Fine, she’s doing the mural, I’m just going to let her let her go.’ So, she finally let me finish it.”

Other than the weather, her biggest challenge in creating the giant mural was her lift.

“The speed of the lift was the biggest challenge,” she explains. “It just takes a long time to get up to the top or to get to where you want to go, and just maneuvering the lift and making it get to the right spot, it takes a lot of time.”

The process of actually painting the mural is no easy feat, and it’s one that starts with a digital drawing.

“Then, with a digital drawing, when I know the exact height and width of the building, then I can put those measurements onto my digital drawing,” says Allen. “I use a method called a ‘doodle grid.’ I basically just spray paint doodles all over the wall where I’m going to have like main parts of the drawings. And then I take a photo of those doodles and layer those over top of my digital drawing. So then I use that as a grid and I can go back in and with spray paint, I just sketch everything out and draw it so that I know where things are and then I can start painting.”

From the digital drawing of the mural on the left to the actual finished product on the right, it’s a vivid picture that highlights wheat harvest in Kansas. And the idea all started with one man.

“The picture of the farmer standing here and looking at all this, so many of us can drive up and say, ‘That is my dad. I can see my dad doing that.’ So, that just tells the whole story of what it’s all about,” Ron Regehr, with the Inman Museum, told U.S. Farm Report affiliate KWCH.

A man on a mission, he wanted to draw attention to the museum. So, he contacted Allen to bring his idea to life.

“Without him, it wouldn’t have been possible,” she says. “And with them adding onto the museum, he’s really hoping that this would give that a push, as well and, you know, help make that more possible, too.”

What started as a dream, has turned into a picture-perfect reality that’s now a new attraction for this rural Kansas town.

“I love painting, of course. I love doing the murals. But I think that it’s so rewarding when I finished the mural to be able to see how it has affected everybody else as well,” says Allen. “That to me is my favorite part, just knowing that so many people are seeing it and so many people are having a reaction to it and appreciating it. To me, that’s what makes it all worth it. “

Allen is already on to her next project. You can follow her work on her Facebook page .

Wheat Prices Rise as Frosts Damage Crops in Top Exporter Russia

Thu, 09 May 2024 18:08:42 GMT

Chicago wheat futures rose on Thursday as Russia declared a state of emergency in key grain-growing regions due to frosts, while corn and soybeans also edged up.

Three of Russia’s key grain-growing areas declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, citing May frosts that have caused severe damage to crops and will reduce this year’s harvest.

Dealers said the impact of frosts in Russia, the world’s top wheat exporter, would be closely monitored with crops entering a key period for their development.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 1.7% at $6.45 a bushel as of 1011 GMT.

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) bought 114,077 metric tons of food-quality wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia in a regular tender that closed on Thursday.

Corn gained 0.55% to $4.61 a bushel, while soybeans rose 0.35% to $12.32 a bushel.

Argentina’s Rosario grains exchange said the leafhopper plague has ruined around 20% of the corn crop this season, while cutting its harvest estimate for 2023/24 to 47.5 million metric tons from 50 million tons.

The exchange also held its estimate for the current soybean harvest at 50.0 million tons, though it cautioned harvesting has been delayed by rains and high humidity.

China’s soybean imports in April jumped 18% from a year earlier to 8.57 million metric tons, according to the General Administration of Customs, the highest on record for April as buyers snapped up cheap and plentiful Brazilian beans.

Expectation that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) May supply and demand and crop production reports due on Friday will show adequate supply limited the rebound.

There have been some bullish developments to spark short-covering that has driven the gains, but a USDA report due at the end of the week is expected to show a comfortable supply outlook in the United States and globally, Bergman Grains Research said.

(Additional reporting by Mei Mei Chu in Beijing; Editing by Varun H K, Subhranshu Sahu and Shounak Dasgupta)

Kansas Landed in the Bull's-Eye of a Late-November Snow, And It's Good News for Winter Wheat

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 21:07:23 GMT

A big November snowfall is providing hope for a winter wheat crop that’s off to a rough start again in the Great Plains. A dry fall helped harvest progress, but the stubborn drought situation also created poor conditions to help germinate the winter wheat crop this year. That was until a snow system brought much-needed moisture in the Great Plains, with the bull’s-eye being central Kansas.

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey describes the system as a fairly wet snow, with many locations seeing a 10:1 snow-water ratio. He says that compares to typical snow-water ratios in that part of the country. He says when it’s away from the oceans, the snow-water ratios are closer to 20:1.

The snow coverage peaked on November 27, with a NOAA map showing the track across the Midwest.

Snow totals varied, with the heaviest amounts falling east of Hutchinson, Kan. According to official snowfall totals, Hutchinson received 12 inches of snow, but a pocket to the east of the city received 14.1 inches of snow.

Rippey says snow in late November across the nation’s heartland isn’t rare, especially when it’s a narrow band. However, he says areas where the earlier heavy snow fell included the southern edge of the snow band, which went across northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas.

“Wichita’s snowiest November on record occurred way back in 1888, with 9.0 inches. Other big November snows in Wichita occurred in 1906 (8.7 inches), 1951 (8.1 inches), 1952 (6.8 inches), 1972 (7.1 inches), 1975 (5.5 inches), 1984 (6.8 inches), 1987 (6.2 inches) and 2006 (5.5 inches). The storm in 1952 occurred on the exact same date (6.8 inches fell on November 25, 1952),” says Rippey.

Winter wheat conditions in Kansas rated 16% very poor, 16% poor, 36% fair, 28% good, and 4% excellent. Winter wheat emerged was 93%, ahead of 86% last year, and near 90% for the five-year average. pic.twitter.com/kP2655jdae
— KansasWheat (@KansasWheat) November 28, 2023

The snow was a welcome sight for growers who planted winter wheat. According to USDA, 93% of the winter wheat has emerged in Kansas, compared to 86% at this same time in 2022. The five-year average is 90%.

“Of course, the wet snow is great news for winter wheat, which in Kansas in particular has been struggling, with nearly one-third of the crop rated in very poor to poor condition,” Rippey adds. “However, as you can see from the snow map, the beneficial moisture largely bypassed the northern and southern Plains, as well as southeastern Colorado, northwestern Kansas and eastern Nebraska.”

Potential Impact on Drought

What does this mean for potential changes in the U.S. Drought Monitor? Rippey helps author the Drought Monitor. He says especially if a wetter-than-normal pattern continues, areas of the Great Plains still experiencing drought should see gradual improvement. This early snow is a good start.

While the pattern change is a good thing, it’s still a debate whether it can be attributed to El Niño.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to tell where the effects of El Niño start and end,” explains Rippey. “Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve certainly seen a stronger subtropical jet stream, which is likely attributable to El Niño. This new pattern has delivered drought relief in other areas, including the South, East and lower Midwest.”

Related News:

El Nino’s Effect on Crop Prices

Harvest Update: Less than 5% of Corn Acres to Go

Whitney Larson Sharing Journey to Help Women in Agriculture Cultivate Courage

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 20:54:45 GMT

From unforgiving drought to finally seeing rain, Whitney Larson has learned to cope with the extremes of farming.

“We have been in a catastrophic drought for five years,” says Larson, who farms with her husband, Bart, near Sharon Springs, Kan. “So, seeing rain has finally been this reminder that our faith finally paid off.”

The storms have brought drinks of water that quenched the soils, but they also brought another brutal blow.

“We did have some very bad hail last week, and then more hail maybe three weeks before that, and so that’s kind of been disheartening,” she says.

Neighboring fields were ravaged by the hail, with corn stalks barely even recognizable, while other fields were barely touched – yet another reminder that farming in far western Kansas requires one to plant with seeds of hope and faith.

“When we first started farming, I found that your faith really has to grow,” she says.

First-Generation Farmers

The Larsons are used to dealing with challenges, especially considering this is a first-generation farm. She shares her journey on social media where she’s known on Instagram as FarmWifeGuru .

“We call ourselves first generation,” says Larson. “So, I’m actually third generation removed. My granddad farmed but skipped my mom. She had already grown a family and done all that, and so my granddad had his farm sale the year I started dating Bart. It was a very funny turn of events that was like, ‘Dang, I should have done that a little earlier.’”

Larson has some memories of being in the combine when she was little, but her childhood was filled primarily with sports.

“I grew up doing all things sports. Basketball was my life, from as small as I can remember to then when I played in college,” she says.

Her parents and her siblings also played college sports, but her husband’s childhood was full of nothing but farming and ranching.

“It’s been in Bart’s blood his whole life, and so it was his dream. And it quickly became mine after I saw how passionate he was about it,” she says.

Farming is all Bart ever wanted to do, and a farmer is all he ever wanted to be. But as the youngest of four boys, returning to the family farm wasn’t an option.

“We decided to try the realm of custom ground rig spraying, and that’s how it was kind of born. He started that business which led to us meeting new people and building relationships,” she recalls. “We were able to eventually start custom farming, and then we were able to rent some ground of our own.”

Resenting the Farm

The Larsons started their custom spraying business in 2012. Ten years later, they purchased their first piece of ground. It’s a growing farm with a growing family.

“Our oldest just turned 10, our daughter is 8, our youngest is 4, and I’m 28 weeks pregnant. So, everything’s growing,” she says.

But as the operation and family were both growing, Bart was also working around the clock. And Larson says growing up in a family that always ate dinner together and parents who worked more normal hours and were always home at night, s he started to resent the farm.

“So, coming into this where I wasn’t in agriculture, I felt very distant or disconnected from this lifestyle,” says Larson. “I had actually resented our operation for probably a solid year or two, and finally Bart started pushing me to try more things.”

Learning She Could Do Hard Things

Larson says that’s when her view changed.

“Once I finally got over my fear of thinking I couldn’t learn this or that, and believing I didn’t belong here, I really started to flourish in the fact that I can do all these hard things just like he can,” she says.

First, Larson learned to drive a truck, and from there, she’s learned to do so much more. Now, she admits, she’s come a long way.

“I do find pride in the fact that if we have something go down or a guy can’t come for the day, they’ll say, ‘Hey, Whitney, go hop in the combine’ and they’ll have you run it. I learned to run a combine when Rowdy, our youngest, was a baby. He was 6 months old when I learned how to run the combine.”

Larson says everything she’s able to do is thanks to her husband for believing she could.

“I really thank him for the fact that he pushed me and made me learn things, because it has been something that I rely on every day. I say ‘cultivate courage’ all the time but really, for me, that’s learning to do all these hard things,” says Larson.

Cultivating Courage

It’s that courage she wants to help instill in other women.

“It started out as event for women in ag, but it’s really flourished into an event that basically all women can feel called to come to, and it’s called Cultivating Courage ,” she says.

Started in 2019, Cultivating Courage was also thrown some curveballs when the pandemic put her in-person event on hold. She moved it to a virtual event, and in 2022, she was finally able to host her first in-person program.

“Just knowing that they can come and be empowered and welcomed in a place where they are not judged, and just find a space inside this industry, was a really big deal,” says Larson.

The event this year drew more than 300 women. While she says it was humbling to see that many people come together, Larson’s dreams grew even more.

I actually started a women’s retreat that I’m going to try to do twice a year, and it’s called ‘Cultivate.’ So it’s basically a spin-off of Cultivating Courage, and I just hope that more women can hear that words ‘cultivate courage,’ and just do the things I know they can do, but are a little bit scared to try.”

From a podcast with her now best friend Kiley, to even starting an ag women connect chapter in Kansas, Larson is on a mission to inspire others.

“Twelve years ago when there was social media, that support wasn’t there for me. And I just want to be that light for others and let them know that, ‘Hey, just because you didn’t grow up on a farm, or just because you’ve never tried it, doesn’t mean you can’t do it,’” she says.

Larson is proof that even when farm life isn’t easy, it’s worth it, as she continues to cultivate courage any way she can.

What's the Biggest Threat to Global Grain Supplies? It's Actually Russia's Exports, Not Ukraine

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:58:19 GMT

Russia continues to ramp up attacks on Ukrainian ports on the River Danube. Local officials say more than 60,000 metric tons of grain have been destroyed in the past week while also crippling grain storage infrastructure.

Grain prices continue to rally in the U.S., with wheat futures closing limit up on Monday. That opened the door for expanding trading limits on Tuesday. However, agricultural economists and markets analysts point out the situation still hasn’t reached a worst-case scenario yet.

Since Russia put a halt to the UN brokered grain deal last week, the Danube is a key export route, and the grain facilities under attack are located across the river from Romania, a NATO member.

According to John Payne, after Russia targeted Odesa over the weekend, there’s one last port in Ukraine currently open, which is Izmail. He says the port is located extremely west, almost in Romania. Payne says Russia also targeted Izmail over the weekend, but to a lesser degree with grain continuing to move from that location.

“This represents close to 25% of what they are able to export,” says Payne of hEDGEpoint Global Markets. “Fifty percent goes out of Odesa, which is now closed. The last 25% leaves over land, but keep in mind the countries around Ukraine don’t want this supply because it will hurt their own farmers.”

Not only are ports being targeted, but Russia’s defense ministry said last week Russia would deem all ships traveling to Ukrainian ports to be potential carriers of military cargo. The escalation could cause shipping insurance rates to climb, another threat to moving grain out of Ukraine.

“The problem is shipping,” says Payne. Insurance companies are not going to insure vessels in the Black Sea anymore after Putin said they could be fired upon. That leaves the friendly ports in the West Black Sea, often called CVB (Contstana, Varga, Bugas). They are going to try and rail grain there, but it’s hard to get it there and expensive.”

What’s the Worst-Case Scenario for Black Sea Grain Supplies?

So, what would be worst case? The July Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor , a survey of nearly 60 ag economists from across the U.S., recently asked economists to share their views on what are some potential factors that could shape agriculture over the next 12 months but aren’t currently being discussed or highlighted enough. The survey was completed just days before Russia pulled out of the grain deal, but one economist was already concerned about an escalation.

“The current assumption is that the Ukraine grain initiative will stop, but that Ukraine will work with Turkey and the UN to continue shipments,” said the ag economist in the anonymous survey. “What happens if Russia strikes a ship, but then Ukraine strikes back by hitting an outbound ship carrying Russian wheat or crude oil? Maybe a low risk, but massive implications for the commodity markets if commodities coming out of Russia slow or halt. And two, what if an ‘accidental’ war breaks out between U.S. and China in the South China Sea, bringing a halt to commodity trade with China?”

The concern may seem extreme, but after the escalation over the past week, it seems to be a possibility. This past weekend on U.S. Farm Report, Payne said when you look at the global balance sheets, the loss of the Ukraine crop, at least the export terminals, isn’t a huge deal. He says what could be a huge deal is a lack of any commercial shipments in the Black Sea.

“The biggest question in all of this is what happens to Russia shipments,” says Payne. “Russians feed a lot of the poorer countries as well as float a lot of oil from the ports in the Black Sea. Our worry is what happens if those stop? All of the sudden the hungry of the world will come for U.S., EU and South American supply. Thankfully, the Brazilians have it now, but prices need to keep going to incentivize supply growth.”

Russia’s Grain Supply

Payne says the following Bloomberg charts show Russia’s weekly grain exports compared to Ukraine’s weekly exports. Ukraine’s grain exports tanked once Russia invaded Ukraine, increased after the grain deal was brokered, but then have seen another sharp decline since May. That compares to Russia where grain exports reached record levels in July before seeing a sharp drop.

DuWayne Bosse, of Bolt Marketing out of South Dakota, says the trade talk overnight Tuesday was that barges are still being loaded at Ukrainian ports despite the recent attacks. He says there’s also talk that Ukraine may attack Russia’s Kerch Bridge, which is the passageway for nearly half of Russia’s wheat exports.

The potential strike to Russia’s exports is one that Chip Nellinger, Blue Reef Agri-Marketing, also discussed on U.S. Farm Report this weekend. He says the commodity markets already knew there would be a massive drop in Ukraine’s production this year compared to a year ago.

“In my mind, it’s more about Russia, and they supposedly have a big crop,” says Nellinger. “That Black Sea grain corridor probably benefited Russia as much as much as it did Ukraine. And now if that’s going to really slow, and there’s been talk that Russia is going to keep some of that wheat off the market for an internal supply reserve, so to speak.”

Nellinger says bigger picture, the question is if Russia will continue to supply the world now that the Black Sea is closed, and he says India and China have been big benefactors of Russia’s grain.

Ag economists were also asked to provide their thoughts on the top three factors that could impact trade relations between the U.S. and China. Several economists responded that one of the biggest factors will be China’s support for Russia.

A Tale of Two Wheat Harvest Extremes is Now Playing Out in the Nation's Breadbasket

Mon, 10 Jul 2023 14:13:33 GMT

The rhythm of wheat harvest is a symbolic sight during the summer months. This year, the sounds of harvest are rather quiet in some of the biggest wheat producing areas of the country, as extreme drought turned into a deluge of rain. While farmers in those areas are faced with a difficult decision, possibly walking away and not harvesting some fields this year, other farmers in eastern Kansas and Missouri are seeing harvest happen at a historic pace.

For eastern Kansas farmer Adam Phelon, wheat harvest started at a pace he had never seen.

“This the earliest we’ve harvested wheat that I can remember,” says Phelon who farms in Melvern, Kan. “We’ve been able to get in the field at least three to four weeks earlier than we would have on a typical year.”

Last year, the Phelons didn’t even start harvest until mid-July. This year, harvest is nearly wrapped up by that time.

“It’s because of these dry conditions that we’ve been able to get in so much earlier,” says Phelon.

With cracks in the ground and visible stress to the crops, signs of drought are hard to miss. Even with the dryness, he says wheat yields on his farm are surprisingly good.

“We had pretty decent rains earlier in the spring that really helped help the wheat and tiller and grow,” says Phelon. “So the yields have been in the mid-50s to lower 60s throughout our area, and that’s pretty good.”

The yields farmers are seeing in his pocket of eastern Kansas are also a big difference from 2022.

“Last year’s yields were a little bit lower,” says Phelon. “They were in the 40s, so we’ve been pretty pleased with what we’ve seen.”

Winter Wheat Troubles in Central and Western Kansas

While yields are strong in eastern Kansas, the area only accounts for 10% of the state’s total wheat production. The majority of wheat production in the state is farther west and south, areas of the state that are seeing a more challenging harvest this year.

“Harvest is progressing really slow,” says Justin Gilpin, CEO of Kansas Wheat. “It is turning into quite the slugfest to get things finished out.”

Farmers located in the heart of the wheat production areas of Kansas suffered through drought for consecutive years. Prospects for the crop were already down, with some areas half or even 25% of what they would normally harvest. Now, the rains won’t shut off.

“It’s frustrating, probably is the best way to describe it, because of the rains that came late that we really needed back in March and April for this crop to benefit from are coming in now, creating some challenges,” he says.

Related News: Wheat Tour Finds Drought, Freeze Robbed More Wheat Than Expected, Surprisingly High Abandonment Now Pegged Across Kansas

The Kansas Wheat Tour exposed drought’s impact on the crop in May, especially in the central corridor of the state.

“Those are drought-stricken areas where we had thin, short wheat, that the yields were between 10 and 25 bushels per acre. And what farmers are having to deal with now, is because of the rain and the lack of canopy, the weed pressure that’s really come on where you have weeds that are actually taller than some of the low-yielding wheat that’s out there,” he explains.

Farmers Fear They Won’t Finish Wheat Harvest

With weeds overgrowing the wheat, and relentless rains continuing to fall, farmers fear they may not even get to finish wheat harvest this year.

“Low lying areas in those fields, where you do have some mud puddles that they’re having to go around, that maybe only half of the field is going to end up getting harvested, and maybe some of it not be harvested at all,” says Gilpin.

The wheat tour in May projected abandonment at 19% in Kansas. The high number was from scars of the drought, as well as the cold weather. Now, Gilpin thinks that figure could grow as rains prevent harvest from even happening.

“Abandonment is extremely high, maybe the highest we’ve had in over 20 years for the state of Kansas, and I do think it probably is going to climb a little bit more because of the challenges with the with rain and the weed pressure,” says Gilpin.

This past weekend, farmers in Kansas were dealt with another blow, this time in the form of hail. Photos and videos on Twitter showed the dramatic impact it had on some of the areas with strong crop prospects. The crop was wiped out in a matter of minutes.

Well…it happened…2 days from running wide open on wheat harvest and some of the best yields in the state…gone…corn gone also…not fun driving around. But the sun will come up tomorrow.. we will persevere. pic.twitter.com/s1Tyvq8CPa
— Keaton Frewen (@FrewenK) July 9, 2023

Harvest Progress Numbers from USDA

USDA’s Crop Progress report last week showed statewide, Kansas farmers are running 17 percentage points behind average when it comes to harvest. The state is a whopping 34 points behind last year.

To the east, Missouri farmers are nearing the finish line with 88% of the state’s winter wheat crop harvested, which is 14 points ahead of normal.

Missouri Farmers See Rapid Winter Wheat Harvest Pace

The rapid planting pace is a storyline across Missouri farms, and it’s largely due to the drought impacting the majority of the state.

Jeff Nail of Nail Farms is in Orrick, Mo, and harvest for his family’s farm is already wrapped up.

“Last time we planted wheat was probably six years ago.” Says Nail.

Just like other farmers across the Midwest, the Nails decided to give wheat a try again this year for two main reasons.

“We thought the summer income is nice, and the price was pretty attractive, as well,” says Nail.

Bountiful Crop Despite Drought

Since it had been so long since their farm grew wheat, only about 10% of their acres were covered in wheat this winter, a decision that’s paying off on the good ground

“Yields on the good dirt, the heavy dirt, have been really good,” says Nail. “The lighter soil has struggled. We were dry at a crucial time, and lighter soil really struggled this year.”

Nail says 60 bu. per acre to 70 bu. per acre yields are considered good in his area.

“We did have some wheat that was running at 90 bushel on the good dirt, but on lighter dirt, 30 to 40 was catching most of that,” he adds.

Just across the road, wheat is a staple for neighboring farmer Tom Waters.

“I like to grow wheat, I like cutting wheat,” says Waters. “Wheat has kind of a bad reputation in our area, a lot of people moved away from it and don’t like to plant it, but I still like to plant it. I fertilize the heck out of it and just figure some of that fertilizer is good for the beans, too.”

Related Story: Blank Space to Work of Art, Missouri Wheat Field Transitions into Unique Welcome to Taylor Swift

With a heavy dose of fertilizer across their winter wheat, it’s showing up in the yields they’re seeing this year.

“I think this fields probably going to be between 80 and 90 bushels [per acre],” says Waters. “So, you can’t complain about that, for sure, especially the weather we’ve been having.”

The yields are a bit of surprise considering how dry it’s been all winter in Missouri, but it’s also prompting wheat harvest to see an earlier start and finish.

The dryness and triple digit heat last week are sprouting concerns about the summer crops, especially with the corn tasseling. The Nails also were concerned about their double-crop soybeans they planted after wheat, so they decided to turn on their pivots just to get the crop up. Nail says that’s extremely rare.

“We just don’t have much subsoil moisture here at all,” says Nail.

Two Tales of Winter Wheat Harvest

As for winter wheat, the year is producing a lot of firsts, and the harvest stories are dramatically different no matter where you go.

“Talking to guys out in western Kansas, they’re talking about having to plant around mud puddles this year, and we’re talking about not being able to get any moisture to get our beans up. And that’s such a difference than what we’re used to, and what they’re used to, as well,” says Phelon.

Missouri Wheat Field Transitions into Art Masterpiece to Welcome Taylor Swift

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 19:28:11 GMT

Wheat harvest wrapped up on Tom Waters’ field in Orrick, Mo. nearly a week ago, but what happened after harvest is creating quite the buzz among Taylor Swift fans across the country.

What some may view as a blank space , the harvested wheat field is an opportunity that one man decided to turn into a work of art.

“This time of the year, wheat is a phenomenal canvas for us to work in,” says Rob Stouffer, owner of Precision Mazes . “This sits on 25 acres and we are molting about 6.3 acres today.”

The Mastermind Behind Precision Mazes

Stouffer is the mastermind behind it all. He started with corn mazes 23 years ago. Today, Precision Mazes is crafting masterpieces across the U.S., earning the title of the king of crop art.

“Mazes are our core business, but we’re growing in the area of crop art,” says Stouffer. “We look at crop art as a marketing tool for growers.”

Knowing Waters from past precision projects , Stouffer reached out in search of a field of harvested wheat.

“I knew Waters’ fields were flat, and I knew he took great care of them,” says Stouffer. “Tom has been exceptional to work with and his field has proven to be an outstanding canvas.”

Bouncing around a couple ideas, the team at Precision Mazes came up with several renditions. They took a poll of 50 friends and clients and landed on a tribute and welcome message to Taylor Swift.

“She’s creating quite a stir everywhere she goes,” says Stouffer. “It only seemed appropriate for us to offer her a hearty, midwestern welcome.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Precision Mazes (@precisionmazes)

The Precision Process Bringing Pictures to Life

How does the team go from a sketch to bringing the image to life? It’s a process that takes several weeks.

“So, we have GPS equipment in in the Bobcat, that tells us where we are,” he says. “Ahead of time, we have essentially taken the artwork and given it geospatial characteristics.”

The Bobcat is equipped with GPS guidance to help Stouffer navigate the field, but he also relies on his team of three people who set up in a makeshift command center, manning the drones near the field.

“The folks running the drones are constantly communicating back and forth with me to say when they needed to do battery swaps and giving me input as to what feature to do next,” he explains.

From where to start and stop, to every twist and turn, the fields are crafted with meticulous detail. This detail is achieved thanks to proper prep and planning, as well as a few necessary tools.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Precision Mazes (@precisionmazes)

“This cutting tool is going to take whatever plant material is here and mulch it down,” he says. “Depending on what the project is, we’ll use this mowing tool.”

In a field with less vegetation, he taps the rototiller. But from the variation of crops and scale, each field of art is unique.

“The challenge for most people is recognizing that our paintbrush is five feet wide,” says Stouffer.

More Crop Art

This tribute to Taylor Swift took the team at Precision 11 hours to create, and the result is reating quite the buzz this week, but his But his favorite field he’s done in the past is one he did here in Orrick in 2020, with each letters standing 74 NFL footballs tall.

“The Andy Reed Project we did a couple years ago was featured on Sunday Night Football, and I’m a huge football fan. Hearing Al Michaels talk about our work, that was pretty cool.”

The project that proved to be the most challenging was called Trust the Earth, which was an 80-acre mural. It took Stouffer nearly a week to create the massive mural.

“Aesthetically, it was probably the most pleasing project that we did, and it was done in Kansas wheat a couple years ago,” he says.

While the team at Precision continues to create crop art across the U.S. the Taylor Swift picture is one gaining traction ahead of her concert in Kansas City this weekend. From boots on the ground, to a birds’ eye view, Precision Mazes is proving Kansas City’s welcome to Taylor Swift may just be bigger than the sky.

“From our work here, you can see we can make a bigger than life impression; We can leave a great mark behind,” says Stouffer.

See more of Precision Mazes’ crop art.

The 5 Fundamentals That Could Still Rally Wheat Prices

Tue, 23 May 2023 15:14:11 GMT

Last week was full of both bullish and bearish news for the wheat market. As winter wheat harvest begins across the country, one market analyst thinks the lower domestic wheat production also changes the dynamics in the wheat market.

While the Kansas Wheat Tour found a disappointing winter wheat crop , news of the U kraine Black Sea grain deal extension extended for two more months also hit the market.

The Black Sea grain deal was facing an uncertain outcome, as Russia demanded concessions in order to extend the deal, However, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, one day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.

This week, there’s a new twist. According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, one of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports halted operations because Russia was reportedly refusing to allow ships through.

UKRAINE'S BLACK SEA PORT OF PIVDENNYI HAS HALTED OPERATIONS BECAUSE RUSSIA REFUSES TO ALLOW SHIPS THROUGH - UKRAINE DEPUTY MINISTER
— First Squawk (@FirstSquawk) May 23, 2023

At the same time, harvest is still a month away across parts of Kansas, and the Wheat Quality Council tour found an abandonment of 26.75% versus USDA’s current projection of 18.5%.

Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group says with all the news hitting the wheat market, risk management is vital this year, especially with both the downside and upside risks.

“Is the hard red winter wheat crop short? Absolutely it is. And it’s shorter than what the USDA indicated. It’s shorter than what the trade said,” says Suderman. “If you look at the six analog gears for crop condition ratings, five of those six years saw the hard red winter wheat crop gets smaller ahead of the final report on September 30.”

Suderman says while USDA’s crop projections could shrink, he says news of just how overpriced the hard red winter wheat is in the U.S. created a bearish sentiment last week.

“We have milling wheat from Europe coming into the United States, and it pencils out right into the interior of the United States. And so that is a big psychological impact on the market. It’s been going on for 90 days, but Bloomberg finally picked up the story and kind of woke up the market to the reality. And that pulled the legs out from underneath the only real bull story we had in the grain and oilseed complex right now,” says Suderman.

Can the wheat market still get rallies? Suderman says that’s certainly possible, but he says it now emphasizes just how much world markets matter in wheat. And he says it’s these five factors that will play into prices in the months ahead:

Whether it rains in Argentina so farmers can get their winter wheat crop planted.
Whether El Nino cuts the size of the Australian crop.
Whether it stays dry now in the U.S. spring wheat belt.
How dry it gets in Russia’s spring wheat belt.
Weather conditions in Canada’s spring wheat belt.

“All of those things matter a whole lot more now,” says Suderman. “So it’s possible, not necessarily that it will happen, but it’s possible that we could see a rally based on one of those factors.”

The United Nations said last week that the grain deal renewals, including the one last week, is helping stabilize the market and reduce volatility. The group noted that global food prices had fallen 20% since hitting all-time highs in March 2022.

Wheat Tour Finds Drought, Freeze Robbed More Wheat Than Expected, Surprisingly High Abandonment Now Pegged Across Kansas

Fri, 19 May 2023 20:44:44 GMT

As scouts set out on the 2023 Wheat Quality Council ’ s Hard Winter Wheat Tour across Kansas this week, they knew they’d found drought-ravaged fields. But as freeze damage became more apparent in the central part of the state, the tour found a disappointing state-wide yield and higher abandonment compared to what USDA currently has penciled in.

The Wheat Tour found a three-day average calculated yield of 30 bu. per acre, but that yield is only based on the field that will be harvested. Kansas Wheat points out crop abandonment will be high, robbing the state’s yield potential and producing a high number of abandoned wheat fields.

Wheat field in Kingman Co KS looking OK from the road but fairly thin as you walk into it. Still better potential than many fields that we’ve sampled today. @KansasWheat @KStateAgron #wheattour23 pic.twitter.com/iAL378gwJe
— Romulo Lollato (@KSUWheat) May 17, 2023

Overall, the Wheat Quality Council’s Hard Winter Wheat Tour found:

The official tour projection for the total production of wheat to be harvested in Kansas is 178 million bushels
Tour participants thought abandonment might be quite a bit higher than normal at 26.75%.
The production number is the average of estimated predictions from tour participants who gathered information from 652 fields across the state.
Based on May 1 conditions, NASS predicted the crop to be higher at 191 million bushels, with a yield of 29 bushels per acre and abandonment at 18.5%.

First-Hand Look From the Field

Tanner Ehmke, who’s the lead economist for grains and oilseeds for CoBank , was on the Wheat Quality Council’s tour this week. He says abandonment is still the biggest question mark for the winter wheat crop across the Plains.

“There’s a lot of concern on the tour about abandoned, and that seems to be the wildcard because we saw a lot of good fields or decent fields, we’ll say, in the central or eastern part of the state. But as you head further west, conditions rapidly deteriorate. And then we saw a lot of fields that are going to get abandoned,” Ehmke told AgriTalk host Chip Flory during the AgriTalk PM on Thursday .

Abandoned fields and low yields underscore #WheatTour23 - Projection of wheat to be harvested is 178 mb, indicating that tour participants thought abandonment might be high at 26.75%. The yield for the fields that will be harvested was 30 bushels per acre. https://t.co/KuuDcq8aSt pic.twitter.com/h25TgSLB54
— KansasWheat (@KansasWheat) May 18, 2023

Ehmke says he talked to one wheat grower in Sterling, Kansas who is still debating on how much of his crop he’ll harvest this year.

“He said if you look at your insurance rate, and the indemnity check that some will be getting, it just doesn’t make any sense for a lot of these fields to be harvested,” Ehmke told Flory on AgriTalk. “So, what we saw out in the field absolutely confirmed, what we had been hearing in the marketplace, it also supports a lot of what USDA said.”

Ehmke says the final tour numbers came in below USDA’s current crop estimate, with the Wheat Tour estimating Kansas’ crop at 178 million bushels, which is more than 13 million bushels below the current USDA estimate.

“We are anticipating a little bit of a smaller crop there. And that’s mostly due to a higher abandonment rate. We came in with a yield just a tad bit over USDA. Our yield was 30 bushels an acre and USDA was about 29,” says Ehmke.

Wheat Tour Day 2 - Black Team - West Central - Grainfield (30 mi south)

Adequate moisture, boot stage, Vp stand/ highly variable, no disease. Abandonment
Yield estimate - 4#CattCropTour23 #wheattour23 @KansasWheat #wheat @KSUWheat @KStateAgron @KSU_Shawn pic.twitter.com/sZ0rMJsUF2
— Corbin Catt / Catt & Crew Farms (@cb_catt) May 17, 2023

Freeze Damage Deals Wheat a Double Punch

While drought was the main culprit of the surprising hit to yield, Ehmke says scouts were also shocked by how much damage the late freeze did to the winter wheat crop this year.

“There was extensive freeze damage, especially in the central part of the state,” he says. “That was one of the first things we all noticed is when you go out into the field, to count stems and count heads and try to come up with a yield estimate out there. The very tips of the wheat heads and head turned white. And now it’s because of the frosting a few weeks ago, and when that head was still in the boot if it had been sticking out and exposed to freezing temperatures, then you lost those kernels. And so that factored also into the lower number that we had for the crop tour,” Ehmke explains.

34.5 b/a estimated yield on 4th stop of Hwy 4 Blue Route. Much shorter stands and freeze damage. #wheattour23 pic.twitter.com/rgzsNv28H9
— Tanner Ehmke (@tannerehmke) May 16, 2023

Wheat Harvest 3 to 6 Weeks Away

The wheat tour consisted of three days of wheat scouting, with the tour taking scouts on six routes from Manhattan to Colby to Wichita and back to Manhattan. Kansas Wheat says the tour drew in 106 people from 22 U.S. states plus Mexico, Canada, and Colombia.

The Wheat Quality Council estimates wheat harvest is three to six weeks away for the area the scouts toured this week. And Kansas Wheat points out a lot can happen during that time to affect final yields and production.

Kansas Winter Wheat Crop Crippled by Drought that Covers 80% of the State

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 17:24:35 GMT

The drought situation across much of the Plains hasn’t improved this year; instead, the latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows it’s growing worse. Now, farmers across a state that typically accounts for 25% of the total winter wheat production in the U.S. are staring at a bleak picture for crop prospects this year.

Doug Keesling farms near Lyons, Kan. He would typically be planting spring crops in April, but because it’s so dry, he’s playing the waiting game and needing a little moisture before he plants.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday shows 43% of the state is seeing the most severe level of drought. While some parts of the state are seeing the intense drought conditions, the dryness is extremely variable across the state.

“It’s amazing. If you go 30 miles east of me, it’s wetter than it is here. But if you go from here towards southwest Kansas, it’s as dry here as it is there, which is not what we’re used to,” says Keesling. “It’s been dry like this for almost a year.”

He says the variation in winter wheat crop conditions across even his own county is proof about how variable drought conditions are across the state.

“There was a lot of wheat that went in after fall crops, like after corn or soybeans, that did not germinate until later in the winter, because it was so dry,” he says. “Matter of fact, we had some wheat, that in severe cases, did not germinate until January or February when there was a light snow.”

USDA’s Crop Progress released on Monday showed 61% of the Kansas wheat crop is rated as being in poor to very poor condition.

For the week ending April 9, 2023, there were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork, according to @USDA_NASS. Winter wheat condition rated 33% very poor, 28% poor, 26% fair, 12% good, and 1% excellent. Winter wheat jointed was 17%, near 19% last year and 20% for the five year average. pic.twitter.com/T2ZezFNiIY
— KansasWheat (@KansasWheat) April 10, 2023

Kansas Wheat says farmers across much of the state are worried about their wheat crop.

“Wheat is a pretty resilient crop, so it can hold on in some dry conditions. But especially as you get closer to southwest Kansas, a lot of it just didn’t emerge in the fall,” says Marsha Boswell, vice president of communications for Kansas Wheat. “Coming out of dormancy, it needs some moisture to start growing again, and it’s just not receiving any of the moisture that it needs.”

Back-to-Back Years of Drought

Boswell says while many farmers struggled through dry conditions last year, it’s the back-to-back years of dry weather that have been such a sharp blow to crops.

“Last year we were in a long-term drought, but what the difference is from last year is that subsoil moisture now is completely depleted. So last year in the drought, the wheat could pull from some of that subsoil moisture and go ahead and make a plant. It hasn’t been replenished, and there’s just no subsoil moisture there to pull from now.”

With sporadic chances of rain this weekend, many growers are holding onto hope at least some moisture will bring the crop out of such sluggish conditions. For some, it may already be too late.

“I was out and about and went to some areas in western Kansas, and I was told at that time that if they could get some moisture in the next week or two, this crop could pull out of this a little bit, but we haven’t seen that,” Boswell says.

The Wheat Quality Council will hold its annual wheat tour across Kansas in mid-May, a time when maturing wheat will give farmers and others a better estimate of the quality and quantity of this year’s crop.

“I think as we get farther to the west and up and around Colby that first night, and then that second day where we go from Colby to Wichita and through southwest Kansas, we’re really going to see some tough conditions and some abandoned fields,” Boswell says.

Snapshot of National Winter Wheat Crop Conditions

Nationally, USDA’s Crop Progress report showed only 27% of the country’s winter wheat crop is rated good to excellent.

“This is probably one of our weakest crop progress reports for conditions in 40 years,” says Ben Brown, agricultural economics Extension specialist for the University of Missouri. “I mean, this is tied with 1996 in some states, and 1996 was a pretty poor year for wheat producers.”

University of Missouri Extension economist Ben Brown says the eastern half of the country is seeing strong wheat conditions, with more farmers in states like Illinois, Ohio and Michigan potentially taking that crop to harvest instead of only using the wheat as a cover crop during the winter months.

“On the other side of the scale, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some pretty strong abandonment in places like the panhandle of Texas, Oklahoma, and southwest Kansas,” says Brown. “Just too poor of conditions. Maybe there will be the opportunity to plant another crop in there and hope for some rainfall later in the season.”

Possible High Abandonment of U.S. Winter Wheat

Keesling isn’t sure how much of his crop will need to be abandoned, as he says it’s just too early to know. Across the state, severely drought-stricken fields aren’t showing much promise, and the likelihood is growing that more winter wheat fields won’t be harvested this year.

“I think there’s no question there’s going to be some abandonment, probably higher than in a lot of years, because the wheat just isn’t up and it’s not growing,” says Boswell.

What makes that reality so hard is the current price of wheat, even if some question whether today’s prices truly reflect how bad this winter wheat crop really is.

“I think there’s an understanding that yes, we’re dealing with less room to spare here, if you will, but we’ve still got a pretty healthy global wheat picture, even with some of these challenges here in the United States. And then certainly with the continued challenges in the Black Sea Region,” says Brown. “So, understanding all those conditions, as well as kind of what’s weighing on some of this market a little bit.”

The Black Sea Wild Card

The future of the Black Sea Grain Initiative is currently very murky. The Russian ag minister says Russia won’t renew the grain deal until the West’s sanctions on Russian food and fertilizer are lifted.

According to Farm Journal Washington Correspondent Jim Wiesemeyer, senior Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov commented on the situation on Friday, saying the West still has time to remove “obstacles” hindering the implementation of the Black Sea grain deal before a deadline set for May 18.

“Every time we’ve seen this kind of come around, and these flares that it doesn’t look like the grain deal is getting renewed, we’ve seen a 25- to 50-cent rally in the wheat market. And that’s just kind of the nature of the game right now,” says Brown.

Focus on Producing a Crop Through the Drought

As Kansas farmers work to provide the wheat needed for the rest of the world, Keesling says the reality is tough, but the drought hasn’t completely wiped out hope of producing at least some type of crop this year.

“Farmers, as a whole, have a lot of faith that there will be rain,” he says. “And so, I’m trying to be as optimistic as I can be even though sometimes some of these crop conditions behind us don’t always look it. We have faith that we will get rain and that something will turn around.”

If You Think US Fertilizer Prices are High, Canadian Farmers Are Stuck With Surprising Fertilizer Tax

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 20:50:59 GMT

As Ontario, Canada farmer Julie Maw scouts her wheat fields, it’s the moment of truth for the record number of acres planted across the province this year.

“There’s some brown, but there’s a lot of green,” says Maw, as she digs up wheat to check the roots. “It’s a solid consistency, so I think it’ll make it.”

The soft red winter wheat crop is breaking dormancy across the region, and this year, farmers are uncovering fields with promising yield potential.

“It has some good roots, considering the winter,” Maw says.

The crop looks strong, which comes as a surprise to Maw and other area farmers.

“We haven’t seen much rainfall,” says Maw, who says last year’s crops struggled due to dry weather. “We have a lack of snow, a lack of freezing temperatures. It’s going to have an impact, I think, unless the clouds open up between now and planting. Hopefully it’s just not during planting.”

Maw and her husband, Kyle, are the third generation on their Lambton County farm. In addition to the ground they farm, the Maws have a seed business and do some custom farming work. Just this year, Maw became one of two females to ever serve on the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) board of directors. All the various hats Maw wears from day to day are also what allows her to keep a pulse on agriculture beyond what she can see on their farm.

Lately, the buzz from farmers is about the uncertainty of what to plant this year, especially with high input prices.

“Last year was a tough year with input costs the way they were,” Maw says. “It wasn’t just seed that was expensive, but fertilizer was expensive, gas was expensive. People saw that fluctuation and that increase, and the larger scale farms can muffle that a little bit easier than our smaller farms. Some are waiting until spring to put in those orders because of availability of income.”

Maw says that’s a shift from the past five years, when farmers were eager to put in seed and input orders to save with early discounts. However, that changed this year, and it all has to do with concerns about prices and available cash.

Crosby Devitt, CEO of GFO, understands the angst, as he says the risk tied to this year’s crop is high.

“Going into spring, farmers probably have more invested in their crop in 2023 than they’ve ever had in their entire career of farming,” Devitt says.

Brendan Byrne farms in Essex County, Ontario, but he’s also the current chair of GFO. When we talked to Byrne a year ago, fertilizer availability was an issue. Russia had recently invaded Ukraine, which posed problems getting vessels into Canada. The uncertainty was high, but a year later, Byrne says fertilizer availability across Canada has improved. The bad news for farmers is fertilizer prices are still high.

“We were able to get the supply in last year, it was very tight, but those boats that arrived had to pay a fertilizer tax tariff when Russia lost its ‘most favored nation’ status for Canada. We were hoping that [the tax tariff] would be worked out between fertilizer companies and the government, but it ended up not being done,” Byrne says.

The fertilizer tax was imposed after many farmers had already paid for their fertilizer for the year. With the new policy put into place, it meant any vessel coming into Canada from Russia got taxed. The fertilizer tax was then passed on to farmers, which Byrne says came as a shock to many.

“After crops were planted, tariff bills arrived for farmers to then pay,” Byrne says. “[GFO is] still trying to work with the federal government to get that money back into farmers’ pockets.”

That fertilizer tariff is still in place on any products from Russia, but buyers have been able to source products from other countries, for now.

“They have said if supply is very tight, they might have to bring in a ship. [GFO is] still trying to rectify the tariff situation.”

Is the U.S. Becoming Less Competitive in Growing Wheat? A New Warning Sign for the Future of Wheat

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 23:10:53 GMT

The same week as Brazil became the second country to approve the planting of GMO wheat , BASF announced it’s halting work to develop hybrid wheat in North America. The move is one the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) fears could ultimately drive more wheat acres out of the U.S., unless more public and private investments into research and development are made.

BASF isn’t moving out of wheat entirely; instead, the company is now focusing on developing a new type of wheat in Europe. According to Reuters , wheat breeders have been working to develop cross-bred wheat varieties that not only increase yields but make the crop more resistant to drought and disease. However, the hybridization of wheat is both costly and slow, which doesn’t provide much incentive to stay in the North America market.

BASF announced last month it’s cutting 2,600 jobs due to rising cost and weak earnings and, according to Reuters, those job cuts include hybrid wheat developers in the U.S. and Canada.

Wheat’s Struggle to Stay Competitive in the U.S.

Chandler Goule, CEO of NAWG, says BASF notified the association of its decision before the company made the announcement. Goule says while he understands BASF’s decision, he fears the U.S. could become less competitive and cause declining U.S. wheat acres over the next decade.

“That says a couple of things to us,” says Goule. “It says one, that the margins in the wheat industry are not wide enough to

generate enough financial support for continued research. That’s something I think we as an industry need to look at as a whole, not just because BAF pulled out. But that means we need to be putting more dollars towards research and advancement, so that these private companies and our land grants can all continue to help us move breeding programs forward.”

He says without that research, wheat won’t be as competitive a crop to grow in the U.S., when you compare it to other crops such as corn and soybeans.

“I fear that in the next 10 to 20 years, we will continue to see a decrease in wheat acres, even though we saw an uptick this year. But if you look at the last 10 to 15 years, there has been a steady decline of wheat acres in the United States. We’re going to do the same thing to the wheat industry that we did to the oat industry in that we’re going to push it all into Canada, because we are not able to adopt those advanced technologies. Then corn, soy, canola and other grains are going to take over what has predominantly been wheat acres for hundreds of years,” says Goule.

Is the Approval of GE Wheat in the U.S. a Possible Answer?

Also last week, Brazil, a country that plants about 3 million hectares of wheat annually, became the second country to approve the technology for planting. The first country to clear GE wheat for planting was Argentina. Brazil says global food supply fears and drought’s impact on the crop helped fuel the decision.

Could the U.S. approve GMO wheat next? Goule says because wheat is used in so many food products, education will continue to be key in finally getting U.S. consumers to trust and understand that GE wheat is safe.

“We aren’t able to take advantage of GE events like corn and soy, because we are a food grain and not a feed grain, and we are much closer to the consumer,” says Goule. “It’s unfortunate that the consumer is still so scared of such a safe technology that would actually help us produce more wheat to help us with situations like Russia and Ukraine. The hybridization of wheat is great, and that is moving us along faster than standardized breeding has, but it still is not as fast as if we were able to adopt advanced technologies like GE.”

Fighting for the Future By Reaching Those Outside of Ag

The fight to not only keep wheat competitive, but also grow its footprint in the U.S., is one Goule has already started. He says studies are currently underway to show the life-cycle of wheat, data that could prove just how climate-friendly a crop like wheat is for farmers and the environment. The other piece of that puzzle is to not only educate policy makers and consumers about the importance of wheat in the world’s food supply, but also why things like GE wheat are a sustainable path forward.

“Those urban members are so focused on SNAP and feeding programs, well those programs all focus around a grain-based diet, bread and other foods along those lines,” says Goule.

That’s why Goule thinks of wheat as a food grain instead of a feed grain. He says it’s vital that not only the wheat industry, but also those representing rice and pulse crops, continue to push those conversations beyond just agriculture.

“I think the more that we can start looking outside the box and not talking just to our echo chamber here in ag, but really start educating these urban members on why this technology is important,” he says. “We have to educate on why we should increase wheat acres in the United States, why a whole grain diet is so important not only for our kids and our consumers here in the U.S, but worldwide.”

Related Story:

‘It Looks Like a War Zone': Texas Farmer Describes Wheat Crop Now Ravaged by Sunday’s Derecho and Dust Storm

Is Russia's Threat to Nix Black Sea Grain Deal a Potential Ploy to Push Wheat Prices Higher?

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 18:23:36 GMT

Russia is now saying it will only extend its Black Sea grain deal if sanctions are lifted on its own agricultural products. The deal, which was brokered last year, allowed for safe passage of Ukrainian ag products.

As first reported by Reuters, Moscow says payment, insurance, and other restrictions are “barriers” to exporting its products, including products such as fertilizer.

The grain deal is set to expire on March 18. Turkey and the UN helped broker the original grain deal in 2022, and with chances that Russia will not renew the deal, the news sent wheat prices higher on Thursday.

Could the threat of no grain deal turn into reality, which would hinder the flow of grain from that area? Brian Grete, editor of Pro Farmer, says it could, but he also says this isn’t a surprising move by Russia.

Related Content: One Year After Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: How Has World Trade Realigned?

“They have record exports planned for wheat the second half of the marketing year, and so it would behoove them to talk up wheat prices if they could, just with the amount of exports going out,” says Grete. “I think this will go down to the 11th hour, the same as it did in November, and we’ll get an extension to the deal. It’s a matter of whether it’s another 120 days, or whether it’s a year as Ukraine wants. And when all said and done, though I do think the extension will be granted, and Russia will probably get a few things they’re demanding, we aren’t going to lift the sanctions from the West.”

Ukraine is asking for the new grain deal to be extended to a year. Reports currently show Ukraine exports nearly 3 million tonnes of agricultural products a month under the agreement. However, Ukraine is asking for additional ports to be added under the deal. Ukraine’s Deputy Minster for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development says the country could double that amount if ports in Odesa Oblast are included, and up to 8 million tonnes if Mykolaiv is added to the agreement.

Related Content: Battle For Ukraine: The Untold Farming, People And Infrastructure Stories From The Front Lines

'It Looks Like a War Zone': Texas Farmer Describes Wheat Crop Now Ravaged by Sunday's Derecho and Dust Storm

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 20:54:26 GMT

Scenes across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas this week strongly resembled the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s. Winds topping 100 mph only added to the scars the two-year drought has etched into the area. Now, growers are dealing with a dryland wheat crop that could already see abandonment as high as 80%.

Photos and videos from the area portray scenes from Sunday’s storm. Quentin Shieldknight, a farmer in Spearman, Texas, says the area had already been ravaged by high winds this month. Sunday’s storm then finished off some of the wheat crop.

PEAK WIND GUSTS 2/26/2023 - Memphis, Texas takes the cake for highest wind yesterday by a long shot. I have seen my fair share of wind gusts near 100 mph before but have never seen one at 114 MPH until yesterday for our region.#txwx #okwx #nmwx #phwx @ABC7Amarillo @StormSearch7 pic.twitter.com/z4L9xMIv04
— Corbin Voges WX (@CorbinVogesWX) February 27, 2023

“I would say the dryland wheat’s probably done,” Shieldknight told Farm Journal. “I would say the static electricity generated by that storm yesterday is probably going to be rather significant.”

That area of the Texas Panhandle sees an average rainfall total of 17 inches per year. However, it has seen only 12 inches of rain the past two years combined. “It’s been a two-year drought for us where we haven’t had a significant rain event,” he says. “What rains we did get got some crops up on the dryland fields, but it didn’t sustain them. This northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle into the Oklahoma Panhandle into southwest Kansas, it almost looks like a ‘war zone,’ is what somebody called it. It’s just so bad.”

This is unpleasant. pic.twitter.com/rqzBnFVIxJ
— Brad Heffington 🌵🌵🏈 (@BradHeffington) February 26, 2023

Brad Heffington lives just north of Littlefield, Texas. He says Sunday’s dust storm was as bad as he’s seen in his 35-year farming career. He also is growing less optimistic about crop prospects this year, with his estimate of losses being at least 80% on dryland winter wheat. Heffington says it’s getting so bad, even some of the irrigated wheat in his area has ben killed off by the dry and windy weather.

While crop losses could continue to mount, Shieldknight says adjusters will be assessing fields this week, but winter wheat abandonment on dryland could be as high as 80% in his area. That’s after Sunday’s weather was created, a picture that eerily resembled the Dust Bowl.

“Even before the storms built up behind all that wind, there was just significant dust in the air,” he says. “It was hot, extremely high winds. You had to be careful if you were in a high-profile vehicle. If you were driving and went around a corner or drove by a set of bins, you better be hanging onto the steering wheel pretty good. There were times where you couldn’t see 10 feet in front of your face if you went by certain fields that were blowing.”

Almost paradise in west Texas 🥴

Top wind hit 78mph in Morton! pic.twitter.com/kmyYwsuiN9
— Railey Silhan (@RaileyKayBrown) February 27, 2023

What’s also scary to Shieldknight is how early the wind events started this year. Typically, March and April are the months that start producing high winds. That was the case last year, when a similar wind event took out much of the winter wheat crop in April. This year, the month of February produced two windstorms, with the major one hitting on Sunday.

Now, the Texas farmer is considering changing up his planting plans for this year, as the long-term weather prospects don’t look promising for the spring-planted crops.

“One thought in my mind last night was I might need to load up on some sorghum instead of more corn, because sorghum uses less water. The risk’s there that we will have more days like this all the way into April or May,” he says. “It’s going to change some crop plans from corn to low-use water crops, because that risk on corn could be significant. If our long-range weather forecast for July and August doesn’t change, I think guys have got to really start thinking about what crops do we need to roll back to and not have that risk out there.”

The sun is almost still visible pic.twitter.com/csTYDTFdpS
— Mr Optimism🤔🌵 (@bwhite70) February 26, 2023

Shieldknight is also aware of some of the criticism around why farmers in the area don’t plant more cover crops to help prevent dust storms like Sunday’s event. But the Texas farmer points out you need moisture to get any type of crop established, something that the area hasn’t really seen this year. Any cover crop or wheat that’s been planted in dryland is barely hanging on or was already killed off from drought and wind.

Farming in that area of the Plains is tough, which is why the area is also heavy into strip-tillage and other minimal-tillage practices to preserve any drop of moisture they can. But in years when it doesn’t rain, on fields that don’t have irrigation, there’s not much area farmers can do.

“We are in a unique place in the Texas Panhandle. You have to have a heck of a backbone and a strong faith in God, and it really takes a big one, because if it does not rain there is no chance you can get a crop up. There’s just not a chance,” he says. “And we have windows where we get rain, and if you can’t get a crop up in those windows, or planting at a time it doesn’t rain, it’s nearly impossible. And so, most guys do the best job they can to leave cover on. That’s why we try to plant winter wheat, or we try to leave our sorghum stalks or stuff on our dryland, because we can’t raise dryland corn here.”

The weather hasn’t only been devastating to wheat farmers, but also cattle producers who typically use those fields for grazing this time of year.

First Winter Wheat Rating for New Crop Lowest on Record for Date with Deepening Drought

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:06:41 GMT

The latest Drought Monitor shows nearly 75% of the winter wheat acres in the U.S. are in some level of drought. As a result, winter wheat condition ratings this week were well below last year’s 45% good to excellent and were at a record low for this time of year. This was USDA’s first crop rating of the season for winter wheat and the crop came in at only 28% good to excellent, with 35% of the crop rated poor to very poor. The last time they were this low was in the drought year of 2012 at 40% good to excellent.

Randy Martinson with Martinson Ag says, “But we are looking at pretty poor conditions the crop rates at 28% good to excellent, that’s 13% less than expected like you saw a record low for this timeframe, so we’ve got a way to go to dig this crop out of it. 2:38 Of course emergency is still behind the five-year average, planting is still taking place.”

When the ratings are plugged into Pro Farmer’s Crop Condition Index the Hard Red Winter wheat crop starts the growing season with the lowest initial rating ever and the lowest on record for any week ahead of dormancy. In Oklahoma only 11% of the crop is rated good to excellent, only 24% in Kansas, and in Texas only 4% is rated good, with none of the crop in the excellent category.

Martinson says the trade knew how dry the Southern Plains drought was but the poor conditions don’t stop there. “But it’s not just confined to the Southern Plains it’s also hitting the corn belt, the soft red winter as well as the hard red winter wheat.”

The Soft Red Winter Wheat crop starts the growing season with a reading that is 18% below the five-year average. In Illinois the SRW crop is only 35% good to excellent, Ohio is at 55%.

Some rains are forecasted for the Southern Plains later this week but will not be enough to significantly help the winter wheat crop. This comes at a time when USDA is pegging U.S. and global ending stocks for wheat at 15-year lows.

Idaho Farmer Embraces Opportunity in Alaska

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:44:12 GMT

The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgPro or Farm Journal Media. The opinions expressed below are the author’s own.

Why I Farm Roadtrip

RSS By: Natalina Sents

Brought to you by Beck’s

When Natalina Sents moved the gold tassel on her graduation cap to become an Iowa State University graduate, she wasn’t headed for a full-time job. She was embarking on the journey of a lifetime. Partnering with Beck’s, the largest family-owned retail seed company in the United States, Sents is setting out on the Why I Farm Roadtrip - a year-long, 50 state tour documenting agriculture’s diversity and revealing the untold stories of America’s farmers.

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Why I Farm Roadtrip: Bryce Wrigley

Jan 02, 2017
Life as a farmer can be a winding journey. Bryce Wrigley grew up on a farm in Idaho, but opportunities in Alaska drew him north. Throughout the last 20 years, his family’s place in Delta Junction has grown to include a flour mill. While transitioning from raising sugar beets and pigs to barley for flour is a big change, Bryce has seen an even bigger change in himself.

As a young man in Idaho, Bryce was the third generation coming back into his family’s farm. “From my earliest memories I’ve always worked with my family. I remember being with my dad every day.” Bryce recalls. “We would talk about finding a dry farm somewhere and we would pencil out costs and profits and losses and different things like that. For as far back as I could remember, my whole upbringing was talking about the economics of farming, techniques and trying different things.”

Unfortunately, as his own young family grew, there wasn’t any room for the farm in Idaho to expand. Bryce was going to have to create his own path. “I was reading in Successful Farming, back in 1982. They had done an article about this barley project that the governor of Alaska had decided to start.”

At the time, oil money was rolling into Alaska. The governor recognized the oil revenue was temporary and eventually would decline and go away. With the long term in mind, the Alaskan government began developing agriculture while there were the resources to do so.

“They selected Delta as the first phase of that ag development. There was about 100,000 acres here that they set up for the first round.” Bryce remembers. “They selected this area because it had already been growing grain. Back in the 50s there was homesteading here and people raised some barley. They knew that barley could be raised in this area. So, they lotteried a bunch of ground off and the state put up a bunch of money that people could borrow to clear it because financing for agriculture was virtually nonexistent in Alaska.”

Bryce’s agricultural journey started to turn. “It’s just one of those things, you read about it and it keeps coming back into your mind. You just can’t get rid of it. That’s the way it was with me. I could not get that out of my mind. I thought about it all winter long, made a few phone calls up here, talked to some of the farmers, and talked to some of the folks at the state level.”

By spring, his curiosity became unbearable. “Finally, I decided just to get it out of my system. I was going to have to come see it. So we had all the crops planted in May of ’83 and I told my dad, ‘I think I’ll run up there and take a look at that stuff in Alaska.’ He said, ‘Well I’m not doing anything, I’ll go with you.’ So, we jumped in my little Toyota pickup and drove straight through, 60 hours, and got here. We stayed a week looking around and drove back down.”

Just like old times, Bryce and his dad figured all the way home. By the time they arrived in Idaho, they’d made their decision. They were moving to Alaska. “We stayed with the family and got the crop out. As soon as the beets, which was the last crop, were out of the ground, we parked the equipment, said see ya later guys, we’ve got to get up there.”

In order to get loans to clear land to farm, the Wrigleys had to establish residency. “We came up and the first winter we cut firewood. There was no other way to make a living. We didn’t have jobs. We went out every day and cut firewood out of the berms that people had been clearing, hauled it to Fairbanks and sold it here. That was the way we lived that first winter.

It was an adventure. A big adventure.” Bryce laughs. “I moved up here with two little kids, ages two and four, and then my wife.”

As the years passed, their family grew. Now, Bryce and his wife, Jan, have five adult children. Over time, the farm grew as well. For a while they had hogs, which ate the barley they grew. Along the way, they learned to deal with the markets, sparse resources and idiosyncrasies of farming in Alaska.

More twists and turns in their farming adventure came along. “About 2005 is when Hurricane Katrina happened.” Bryce explains. “I remember watching the TV and seeing this aerial shot, they were focusing on these people on top of a building. The guy on the TV said that somebody had killed his neighbor for his food. And I don’t know why, but for some reason, that really struck me. I thought about what would we do in Alaska if something like that happened. Another earthquake like ’64 or some transportation disruption? We don’t really raise very much here, like less than five percent. So that kind of started the wheels turning in my mind.”

Alaska’s food security began to weigh on him. “For a couple of years I tried getting somebody else to start a flour mill.” Bryce recalls. “Finally, I decided if it was going to happen, it wasn’t going to happen with anybody else. So, I talked with my family and we talked about it. We didn’t even know what a flour mill looked like. In 2011, we actually took a family trip outside, went to a couple flour mills to see what kind of equipment, see what the process was, and learn a little bit about it.”

By the time they returned to Alaska, they were planning their start. They began with a very small, labor-intense mill to test the waters. “This is very much a hands-on operation.” Bryce explains. As the demand for their barley products including flour, brownie and pancake mix has increased, they’ve built up

Alaska Flour Company . The

business

has grown to include Bryce’s son Milo, his wife Leah, and another daughter-in-law, Heather.

Now, customers all over Alaska and as far as Texas are enjoying a variety of healthy barley foods. Many diabetics have welcomed success in controlling their blood sugar, thanks to the beta-glucans in barley that act like a sponge, holding and slowly releasing the starchy sugars they digest. Different cracks of barley are available as flour, couscous and cereal.

“Why do I farm? I started farming because I liked driving tractors and combines. I mean that was it for me. It started out because I was just selfish. And now, it has morphed into doing something that is larger than ourselves and benefits as many people as we can. When we started raising “people food” and realized we had a good product that people liked and needed, there was a different level of satisfaction that comes from doing something for somebody and then hearing that they liked it, or it’s good for them, or it helped them out. I always used to tell people that I farm because I can’t stand not to. And that’s still true, but it’s coupled with that different sense of purpose than what I had before.”

That’s why Bryce Wrigley farms.

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Harvest Active Across Central Kansas

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 07:45:18 GMT

Harvest has been rolling in Sublette since June 16. Zach Laffrey, of McCoy Grain Co, says yields have been average for their area. He reported about 150,000-200,000 bushels of wheat have been taken in since harvest started. He said harvest won’t be nearly as good as last year. Yields and proteins have also been lower than what the area saw in 2016. Laffrey said that protein has averaged about 11.5%. “We haven’t had cooperative weather here. There has been a lot of scattered showers, which made everything tough to cut. It won’t hurt the crop, but definitely makes it hard to get it out,” Laffrey said.

In Pierceville, harvest also started on the June 16. Dustin Siek, location manager of Irsik and Doll Feed Service, reported 230,000 bushels of wheat have been taken in since they started harvest. He added yields have been around 30 to 40 bu. per acre and test weights have been averaging 61 lbs. per bushel. “This year has been a lot slower getting in the field,” he noted. “Yields haven’t been nearly as good as last year. It’s been cool and wet, making harvest difficult.”

Richard Harmon, general manager of Mid State Farmers Coop of Rush Center, says harvest has been going for a solid 12 days with some rain delays here and there. He added they have taken in 1.3 million bushels of wheat in their six locations since harvest began and yields have been averaging 45 to 50. He also said proteins have been all over the board this harvest and have been running at the same levels as last year. “Test weights have been hanging in there. We haven’t cut since Friday because of rain, but we’ve seen test weights ranging around 59-60 pounds per bushel since we’ve started back up,” said Harmon.

At the WaKeeney branch of Frontier Ag, Inc., Taylor Myers, location manager, reported harvest began roughly a week ago. He said they’ve taken in around 80,000 bushels of wheat. Test weights have been averaging 57 to 58 pounds per bushel and proteins have been around 11.7% he reported. Wheat streak mosaic virus is the main disease culprit in the area, he added. “Yields have been all over the place. Disease has been bad enough that some farmers swathed their wheat. The highest yields we’ve seen are in the 40’s,” said Myers. “This year acres are quite a bit smaller. Acres have been down, and disease has been up.”

Jason Ochs, who farms in Hamilton County, reported that his wheat is doing better than the county average. He planted hard white wheat varieties Joe and Clara CL that have some resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus, which has shown up throughout the county. The mosaic has caused low test weights and yields in the range of 1.5 to 4.5 bushels per acre. Approximately half the county’s acres won’t even be harvested. Acres that were planted later are producing better yields. Ochs says his later planted fields are yielding over 50 bu. per acre and test weights have remained strong at 62 lbs. per bushel.

The 2017 Kansas Wheat Harvest Reports are brought to you by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and the Kansas Grain and Feed Association.

Tiger-Sul Products Acquired by Platte River Equity

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 07:45:01 GMT

Platte River Equity has acquired Tiger-Sul Products , a global leader in sulphur fertilizers and crop performance products, in partnership with existing management. Tiger-Sul was acquired from H.J. Baker & Bro., Inc., which has owned the Company since 2005 and will retain a minority equity position.

Tiger-Sul’s headquarters will remain in Shelton, Connecticut, and the Company will continue to operate its existing facilities in Atmore, Alabama; Stockton, California; Irricana, Alberta (Canada); and Shanghai, China.

“For more than 50 years, Tiger-Sul has been providing farmers around the globe with high-quality sulphur bentonite and micronutrient fertilizers, pushing the boundaries of innovation in the industry,” said Don Cherry, CEO of Tiger-Sul. “Platte River has the resources and experience to help us accelerate the Company’s growth in the global market.”

“We were attracted to Tiger-Sul because of its reputation in the agriculture industry for superior products and a consistent ability to deliver product innovations to address the needs of its end customers,” said Kris Whalen, Managing Director of Platte River.

“We welcome Tiger-Sul to the Platte River portfolio and look forward to partnering with Don Cherry and the leadership team to take full advantage of the available growth opportunities,” added Platte River Vice President, Eric Crawford.

Russia's Wheat Crop Struggles with Spring

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 07:44:49 GMT

(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s poor start to spring means farmers may struggle to collect a wheat crop that’s near to last year’s record.

Cold weather in central areas and the Volga valley delayed the resumption of winter wheat growth by about two to three weeks compared with last year, according to the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, or IKAR. Lingering snow has also given farmers in the world’s top exporter less time to sow spring crops, potentially leading to smaller-than-expected plantings.

That prompted IKAR to cut its harvest estimate to between 72 million and 78 million metric tons, down at least 9 percent from a year earlier. Consultant ProZerno sees bigger declines. The risk to Russian output comes as dryness is threatening crops in the U.S. Plains and as the International Grains Council expects global production to fall next season for the first time in at least three years.

“The growing conditions are less favorable than last year,” meaning Russian yields will probably decline, said Oleg Sukhanov, chief of grains research at IKAR. “Acreage will most likely be a bit less as well.”

The crop is still expected to be one of the biggest on record, and there’s time for weather to affect output before farmers start harvesting in a couple of months. For example, since May 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture steadily raised its forecast for Russia’s production this season from 67 million tons to 85 million tons.

Conditions are better in Russia’s south, the country’s main wheat-growing and exporting region, and there’s a chance the harvest there will be bigger than last year’s, Sukhanov said. Consultant ProZerno in Moscow raised its estimate for the total wheat crop by 2.7 percent earlier this month, citing an improved outlook for the south. Rains in central parts were “really good” for winter wheat in the past week, said Andrey Sizov Jr., SovEcon’s managing director.

Here’s a breakdown of estimates:

IKAR sees 2018-19 output at 72 million to 78 million tons.It previously forecast production at as much as 82 million tons. ProZerno expects the harvest to total 71.9 million tons. SovEcon predicts output to be 77.4 million tons.

Copyright 2018, Bloomberg