Rediscover Wheat - August 2015

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The official publication of the Kansas Wheat Commission and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers

AUGUST 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Kansas Wheat Yield Contest Winners New Governmental Affairs Director El Nino Signals Wet Weather Potential Peruvian Wheat Buyers Visit U.S.

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Volume 2 • Number 8 www.rediscoverwheat.org The official publication of

In This Issue : 3

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1990 Kimball Avenue Manhattan, Kansas 66502 (785) 539-0255

KAWG MEMBERSHIP $100 per year

EDITOR

Marsha Boswell • mboswell@kswheat.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR/DESIGNER

Audrey Schmitz • commintern@kswheat.com

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CONTRIBUTORS

CEO

Julia Debes • jdebes@kswheat.com Jordan Hildebrand • jhildebrand@kswheat.com

Justin Gilpin • jgilpin@kswheat.com

KAWG OFFICERS PRESIDENT Michael Jordan • Beloit

VICE PRESIDENT Kenneth Wood • Chapman SECRETARY/TREASURER Justin Knopf • Salina IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Gary Millershaski • Lakin

KWC OFFICERS

CHAIRMAN Jay Armstrong • Muscotah VICE CHAIRMAN Brian Linin • Goodland SECRETARY/TREASURER Mike McClellan • Plainville IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Scott Van Allen • Clearwater

Rediscover Wheat is published by the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers (KAWG) and the Kansas Wheat Commission (KWC), 1990 Kimball Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502, twelve times per year.

Contents of this publication may not be reprinted without permission.

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Winners announced for 2015 Kansas Wheat Yield Contest Kansas Wheat Welcomes New Governmental Affairs Director All in Good Authority El Nino Signals Wet Weather Potential Ahead for Kansas Farmers State-of-the-Art Prairie Skyskraper joins Kansas Skyline Recipe: Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with a Twist Wheat Foods Council IGP Institute Stakeholders News Brief Peruvian Wheat Buyers Look at U.S. Wheat Marketing System Recipe: Triple Twirling Tangerine Treats News from National Association of Wheat Growers News from U.S. Wheat Associates Maltby Market Analysis Upcoming Events

Winners announced ansas Wheat is proud to announce the winners of the 6th Annual Wheat Yield Contest.

This year’s top wheat yields belong to Doug Queen of Rossville, Eastern Region winner; Darren Nelson of Hutchinson, Central Region Winner and Darwin Ediger of Meade, Western Region Winner.

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Doug Queen is this year’s Eastern Region winner. Queen was encouraged to enter this year’s contest by Doug Keas, last year’s Central Region and Quality Initiative winner. Queen’s winning plot was 11.94 acres planted with Armour (WestBred) and resulted in a yield of 70.3 bushels per acre.

Queen said, “After such a rough weather year, we couldn’t believe that we made yields that high.

Right down the road from our plot were about 250 acres that were hailed out, so we just had some good luck this year.”

Darren Nelson is this year’s Central Region winner. After a drought-induced “massive crop failure” in 2014, Nelson’s last harvest went significantly better.

He attributes most of this year’s success to the good nutrient profile left behind in the soil by last year’s crop. His plot was 8.756 acres planted with a T158 (Limagrain) /Everest (Kansas Wheat Alliance) blend. Nelson’s prize-winning yield was 108.48 bushels an acre.

Nelson said, “I had read about the contest in the past, and as a

farmer it’s just something that you just know about. But this year we were able to protect it from disease, so I had a feeling that it would be a good crop.”

Darwin Ediger is this year’s Western Region Winner. Ediger, a farmer from southwest Kansas, said that fields in his area were highly variable.

“I’ve never seen a year where management has made such a huge difference,” said Ediger.

He planted his 6.48 acre plot with WB 4458 (WestBred) and saw a yield of 103.18 bushels per acre.

The 2015 Kansas Wheat Yield Contest is sponsored by BASF, WestBred, Kansas Wheat Alliance, Limagrain, Plains Gold, AgriPro, ADM and Kansas Wheat. Winners of the contest receive a $1,000 prize that will be awarded on September 17 by Governor Sam Brownback at the Kansas State Fair. Each winner will also receive a $500 prize, awarded by the company whose variety they planted.

In addition, the contest also has the optional Quality Initiative.

Participants collect a sample of their wheat which will then be graded and analyzed for various quality components. The sample with the highest overall quality, mill and bake scores will receive $250. This winner will be announced by Governor Brownback at the State Fair.

Justin Gilpin, CEO of Kansas Wheat, said, “Hosting the Kansas Wheat Yield Contest is an exciting part of what we do here. We’re proud to recognize farmers across the state for their dedication to good management practices and celebrate their successes.”

Agronomic Information Eastern Region: Doug Queen Date Planted: 09/28/2014 Variety Planted: Armour Planting Rate: 100 pounds per acre Soil Fertility Info: Pre-plant - 100 pounds an acre of 18-49-0; dry Topdress - 60 pounds N Herbicide Info: Topdress - Finesse Central Region: Darren Nelson Date Planted: 10/06/2014 Variety Planted: T158/Everest Planting Rate: 82 pounds per acre Soil Fertility Info: Planting - 100 pounds an acre of Micro- Essentials SZ; dry

Feekes 3 - 70-140 pounds an acre of Urea; dry Herbicide Info: Feekes 6 - 6 ounces per acre Sword MCPA 1 ounce per acre Affinity Fungicide Info: Feekes 6 - 4 ounces per acre Priaxor Feekes 10 - 9 ounces per acre Twinline Western Region: Darwin Ediger Date Planted: 9/23/2014 Variety Planted: WB 4458 Soil Fertility Info: Topdress - 89 pounds per acre UAN; liquid 15 pounds per acre+ Thiosol; Liquid Rediscover WHE AT | AUGUST 2015 3

Kansas Wheat Welcomes New Governmental Affairs Director

By Audrey Schmitz

ansas Wheat is pleased to introduce Daniel Heady as the new Governmental Affairs Director. Heady will begin work on August 3 and be responsible for the legislative and grassroots efforts, including state, national and international legislation and regulations impacting the Kansas wheat industry. His duties will include membership recruitment and retention strategies, preparing and implementing leadership development programs and cultivating organizational relationships to communicate Kansas Wheat’s mission, vision and goals.

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Heady is a 2011 graduate of the University of Kansas where he majored in political science and journalism.

After graduation he went on to obtain a juristic doctorate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 2014.

Prior to accepting this position Heady served as the government affairs director for the Wichita Association of Realtors. As government affairs director, he managed all political activities including monitoring policy and lobbying 4

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on behalf of the association on the local, state and federal level.

Heady is originally from Prairie Village, Kansas and has worked in Washington D.C. for the D.C. Legislative and Regulatory Services that focused on agriculture and small business legislation.

“I started out my first job in politics working and lobbying for them in Washington D.C.,” said Heady. “Ever since then I wanted to go back to working in Ag policy and working for Kansas wheat growers.”

Heady explained the governmental affairs position at Kansas Wheat seemed like a natural fit for him saying there is

no better opportunity than this for someone who is born and raised in Kansas.

“Ag is full of good people no matter where you go, whether it is in Kansas or in Washington D.C., said Heady. “So, I am looking forward to working with the members of the community that make this association run.”

Kansas Wheat is proud to welcome Heady and confident he will bring hard work and experience to the position.

“We are excited to have Daniel on board. His strengths and education will benefit our association and our members,” said Justin Gilpin, Kansas Wheat CEO.

By Audrey Schmitz

All in Good Authority

n a successful bipartisan effort President Obama signed the Trade Promotion Authority into law on June 29. The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) is a federal legislative procedure that requires the President and Congress to work together on trade agreements that support U.S. jobs, eliminate barriers in foreign markets and establish rules to stop unfair trade.

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“The TPA sets up or creates the ability to finish trade agreements that will have benefits for farmers,” said Dalton Henry, Director of Policy for U.S. Wheat Associates. “It especially sets up the ability to do trade agreements in the best way possible or to get the best deal possible.”

TPA is commonly referred to as a fast-track. In this process the negotiating authority is a temporary power granted to the President by Congress.

“In short the passage of TPA gives the president the power and ability to actually complete a few of these trade agreements that are currently under negotiation,” explained Henry.

Congress first outlines the different trade policy priorities, negotiating objectives and transparency requirements. These guidelines set by Congress are then given to the Executive Branch in which the President and Office of the U.S. Trade Representatives (USTR) reside. The USTR can then negotiate the agreement according to the congressional guidelines.

Once the negotiations are finalized the agreement goes back to Congress. Members of Congress proceed to vote to accept or reject rules of the agreement set by the President.

No amendments can be made at this point in order to pass the agreement. These guidelines are a vital component of the TPA. They reassure trading partners that the United States will stick to the agreements as negotiated and no future changes will be made by Congress.

This TPA law is essential to quickly achieving final TransPacific Partnership (TPP) agreements. The TPP is a multinational trade agreement to establish a regional trade agreement in 12 countries that border the Pacific Ocean. The objective of

the TPP is to boost U.S. economic growth, support American jobs, provide improved market access and to grow American exports to some of the world’s most dynamic and fastest growing countries.

U.S. wheat farmers could benefit greatly from the lower tariffs from Japan and Vietnam.

“Right now the only entity in Japan that can buy outside of that tariff there is the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (MAFF),” said Henry. “Essentially that tariff increases costs for Japanese millers and consumers and reduces demand for U.S. wheat while protecting the domestic Japanese wheat industry.”

Vietnam is a major growth market for U.S. wheat and many competitors will soon have dutyfree access to the Vietnamese market.

“I think it is important to keep those two markets in perspective,” said Henry. “Japan is our number one customer of U.S. wheat and Vietnam is projected to grow tremendously over the next two decades to where they could easily be a major market for U.S. wheat growers.”

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El Niño Signals Wet Weather Potential Ahead for Kansas Farmers

By Julia Debes

rom fishermen in Peru to wheat farmers in Kansas, a shifting weather pattern is the single largest influence on any crop. The rains that fell across the state in May brought new life to the wheat crop that was recently harvested and spotted delays during cutting. And, after years of drought conditions, farmers can reasonably expect more of that moisture to continue, thanks to the official El Niño pattern declared in April, according to Mary Knapp, state climatologist with Kansas State University.

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Observing El Niño By definition, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will declare an El Niño has started when the sea surface temperatures in the Pacific

Ocean are one half degree Celsius warmer than normal for five consecutive three-month periods.

While one half of a degree seems small, Knapp explained to heat up the entire surface of the Pacific Ocean, which covers one third of Earth’s surface, requires a lot of heat.

Only in the last 25 to 30 years, however, have researchers started associating this El Niño phenomenon with disruptions in global weather patterns, according to Knapp. This effort is now assisted by array buoys in the ocean that transmit data in real time.

The result of this warming was first documented in the 1880s by fisherman off the coast of Peru. The differing temperatures brought different sized fish, meaning warmer seas attracted small fish that could slip through nets intended for larger fish. As scientists learned more, these changing sea temperatures corresponded with barometric pressure anomalies and shifting wind patterns.

Bueno for Kansas Farmers, Not for Competitors As Knapp explained, an El Niño event generally means wetterthan-normal conditions for Kansas, including more moisture in summer months and milderthan-normal winters, especially for the southern tier of counties.

This El Niño was declared in April, later than typical, according to Knapp, and Kansas did see substantial rains throughout May as the rising moisture from Gulf of Mexico mixed with cold fronts.

Knapp said if the El Niño pattern persists, then most of Kansas will continue to receive more moisture throughout the rest of summer and into the winter. However, states further north like South Dakota and North Dakota are likely to see drier than average conditions.

While beneficial here in Kansas, Knapp explained that for competitors across the world, an El Niño can signal drier than normal conditions, especially for the Black Sea,

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China and Canada. Areas closer to the coast are impacted more by El Niño, Knapp said, making countries like Australia especially susceptible to these dry conditions.

But as Knapp explained, “No two El Niño’s behave in exactly the same manner.” As a result, these observations are trends, not guarantees.

Long Lasting Potential Indications that Kansas will continue to receive more moisture than normal look positive at this point. Knapp pointed out that of the 16 dynamical and nine statistical models researchers use to determine an El Niño, none predict a quick end to the El Niño.

In fact, according to NOAA on July 18, forecasters report there is more than 90 percent chance that the El Niño pattern will continue through the winter of 2015-16 and about 80 percent chance into spring.

Farmers recently harvested better than expected wheat in many fields thanks to that May moisture, even if the rain also brought foliar diseases and hail events in many places. And, with El Niño predicted to continue for the months ahead, Kansas farmers may see even more rain drops for next year’s crop. Either way, El Niño is a phenomenon to watch.

Check out NOAA’ s official El Niño portal at http://www.elnino. noaa.gov/ for more information and regular reports on El Niño conditions.

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State-of- the-Art Prairie Skyscraper Joins Kansas Skyline

By Julia Debes

tanding tall above the plains, prairie skyscrapers dot the Kansas landscape. But, these local grain elevators are more than an easy location identifier.

Farmers have hauled freshly cut wheat to these businesses to sell, store and ship their grain. And farmers in central Kansas had one more choice for where to conduct their business with a brand-new Bartlett Grain shuttle-loading facility opening in Great Bend.

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Grain elevators come in all sizes but fit into a few general categories. The most common in Kansas is called a country or primary elevator. These elevators generally receive grain from farmers at harvest, but do not move it directly to mills or buyers.

Instead, grain will move from this type of facility by truck or train to a larger elevator where it will be consolidated with grain from other elevators and farmers.

The new Bartlett Grain facility in Great Bend is an elevator on that larger scale. This shuttleloading facility can receive grain either directly from farmers or buy grain from other elevators.

In turn, this elevator can load grain onto to a 110-car shuttle, a train that hauls grain as a single unit from origin to destination.

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According to Andrew Fullerton, a Bartlett grain buyer, this means grain can be delivered at harvest to Great Bend, inspected by the Kansas Grain Inspection Service, sealed and sent to destinations as far away as Mexico without being cars being unloaded or combined with other sources.

This one-stop-shop service requires more storage than a typical country elevator. The Bartlett facility has five 500,000 bushel bins in addition to two 50,000 bushel bins. Each of the facility’s 1,000 bushel capacity dump pits can move 18,000 bushels of grain an hour.

Fullerton said that he hopes to fill a couple of shuttle trains each month. To do, the facility has a load out capacity of 60,000 bushels per hour, filling a rail car in four minutes and taking eight to ten hours to load an entire train.

In order to maximize this potential, Fullerton explained that a shuttle-loading facility must be ideally located to both receive and ship grain. He said the Great Bend facility has easy road access to US-56, heavy axle rail access as well as consistent bushels produced, satisfactory employee

pool and solid potential customer base. The Great Bend facility joins nine other Bartlett elevators in Kansas, including shuttle-loaders in Wichita and Kansas City.

Fullerton said that while they will deliver wheat to the best destination, this facility is designed for exporting high quality Kansas hard red winter (HRW) wheat.

“Wheat is our plan – wheat for export,” he said. “Customers consistently recognize the quality of Kansas HRW and that is why we have facilities here in Kansas.”

For farmers, the new Bartlett facility provides another choice for where to deliver their grain – at harvest or later from onfarm storage. For international customers, this facility provides another option for originating high quality HRW directly from the center of Kansas.

“People do business with people,” Fullerton said. “We are on the same team. We are here to promote Kansas wheat and add value to this market.”

That makes this prairie skyscraper a win-win for the entire industry.

Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with a Twist Nutrition Information One roll provides approximately 207 calories; 4 g protein; 32 g carbohydrates; 2 g dietary fiber; 7 g fat (3 g saturated); 26 mg cholesterol; 19 mcg folate; 1 mg iron and 133 mg sodium.

Prep Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes Bake Time: 12 minutes Yield: Makes 16 rolls

Ingredients

1. Thoroughly drain beets in a colander; puree in food processor.

Directions

2. Have all ingredients at room temperature (77° to 85°F).

Place dough ingredients in bread machine pan in the order suggested by manufacturer. Set bread machine for DOUGH cycle. After 5 minutes, check dough consistency. Dough should form a soft ball around paddle. If necessary, add a teaspoon of flour or water to the dough until the right consistency is reached.

over half of dough. Sprinkle and press chocolate chips over sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Fold other half of dough over filling, forming a 5 x 16-inch rectangle. Press together and seal 16-inch edge.

5. Cut dough into sixteen 1 x 5-inch strips. Twist each strip and form into a coil, pinching end underneath roll to seal. Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Cover; let rise until almost double, about 45 to 55 minutes.

6. Bake in preheated 375°F 3. When dough cycle is oven 10 to 12 minutes. Remove complete, place dough on lightly rolls to rack. floured work surface and roll 7. In a medium bowl, stir into a 10 x 16-inch rectangle.

Brush dough with 1 tablespoon together all icing ingredients except nuts, beating in enough butter, keeping ½-inch away milk to make drizzling from 16-inch sides. consistency. Stir until smooth 4. Combine sugar and and well blended. Drizzle icing cinnamon; sprinkle lengthwise on cooled rolls; sprinkle on nuts.

DOUGH (Made in 1 to 1 ½-pound capacity bread machine) ½ cup puréed beets (canned or cooked fresh*) ½ cup water (80° - 85°F) 1 tablespoon butter, softened 1 large egg ¾ teaspoon salt 1 cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour 1 ¾ cups King Arthur Unbleached AllPurpose Flour 2 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 (1/4 ounce) package Fleischmann’s® Active Dry Yeast FILLING 1 tablespoon butter, softened 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/3 cup milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips ICING 2 ounces cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons butter, softened 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2- 3 teaspoons low-fat milk ¼ cup chopped, toasted pecans *Freshly cooked beets give a brighter red color; allow 45 minutes to 1 hour to cook.

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WFC Member Update - June 2015 WheatFoods.org

51 D Red Fox Lane, Ridgway, CO 81432

In this Issue: Generating the Buzz, Farewell to Judi Adams, Welcome to New WFC President Tim O’Connor with Contact Information & FY 2015-16 Executive Officers

Generating the Buzz The 2014-15 PR program wrapped up this month with the creation of the summer issue of our popular e-magazine, Kernels. The magazine is in final approval stages now so look for it in your email box soon!

K+m also created another “News You Can Use” e-letter to our supermarket RD (SRD) audience.

To be released in early July, this issue focuses on new research on the importance of fiber in weight management, easy, fun ways to make sure you’re getting enough physical activity, and a delicious recipe, Chicken, Kale and Bean Quesadillas. The emailing will also include a survey to help us better target the types of materials and subject matter SRDs are looking for.

In addition, back by popular demand, k+m led another media training session at the June Board meeting, providing tips and tools on controlling the message in media interviews along with videotaping of mock interviews for real-time practice.

The agency also presented an overview of results from the second half of the program year.

Some highlights include: 6.1 million circulation, 57.2 million impressions/audience, for our Family Features piece, “Resolve to Get Healthier” A combined reach of 19.3 million viewers for our media RD segments appearing on network news shows throughout the country Release of “Wheat – America’s Family Food” tool kit reaching 25 major supermarket chain RDs nationwide New homepage for the WFC website driving site traffic up 25% two weeks after the launch and page views up 66% during the same period And let’s not forget that the new PR program was approved by the WFC Board in June for the coming year with some exciting new initiatives including: Desk-side press conferences with the nutrition editors of national consumer magazines in New York City featuring a WFC Advisory Board member (early 2016) “On the Road” virtual bus tour of the US with regional stops represented on the website through videos/photos/recipes/narrative in which we highlight “iconic” wheat foods and new, original uses (virtual tour launches early fall 2015) Survey research to explore the “biases” that health professionals and others have about how wheat, gluten, and carbohydrates affect health. We’ll use the results for press releases, handouts at meetings where we exhibit and to inform future programs. (summer 2015)

K+m’s full presentation is available on the Member’s Only section of the website so check it out!

Social Media Update Facebook.com/wheatfoods (June 1-28) 28 Posts; 532 Likes;50 Shares Reached 18,941 people Monthly growth from 1149-1200 10 Rediscover WHE AT | AUGUST 2015

Twitter.com/wheatfoods (June 1-28) 34 posts; 6 Retweets; 11 Favorites Monthly growth from 1774-1806

Save the Date!

WFC’s winter board meeting has been tentatively set for January 14-15, 2016 in Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ Dates will be confirmed as soon as housing/meeting space has been arranged.

We hope you will plan to attend!

Best Wishes to Judi Adams who A Warm Welcome to Our New WFC President!

Retired from WFC June 30th Judi Adams circa 1973 and now...

Contact information:

Judi began her “wheat career” in 1973 with the ND Wheat Commission and ended her career with WFC in 2015. The Council would like to thank Judi for her numerous contributions to the wheat industry during the last 42 years...24 of which were spent with WFC. Judi, AKA “Queen of Wheat,” will be greatly missed, but we wish her the best as she enjoys hiking, skiing, golfing, traveling for pleasure, and quality time with her husband, Tom. Thanks for all you’ve done for WFC and the wheat industry over your successful and accomplished career. New contact information for Judi: JudiAdamsConsulting@gmail.com

Tim O’Connor President Wheat Foods Council 303.229.9198 (cell phone)

toconnor@wheatfoods.org FYI: The WFC office phone number will remain 970-626-9828 and Gayle Veum, VP, can be reached at this number.

P.S. There is no “e” in O’Connor (much to my surprise) This is the correct spelling. (My apologies to Tim)

FY 2015-16 Executive Officers

(Pictured Left – Rt.)

Reid Christopherson, Sec./Treasurer; Erica Olson, Immediate past chair; Debi Rogers, Vice chair; Don Brown, Chair Program committee members (not pictured) Executive officers, WFC staff, Katie Heinrich and Stacie Seger Nominating committee members (not pictured) Erica Olson, chair, Dave Green, Hayden Wands, and Katie Heinrich

Have you taken a look at the information we have in our “Member’s Only” section of the website? In the upper right-hand corner of our homepage www.wheatfoods.org you’ll find “Members Login.” User name: WFNmember Password: #wfnmember2013 (both case specific)

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July 2015

STAKEHOLDER NEWS BRIEF Moving the Mission After a busy June schedule, we had a short period to catch our breath before jumping into our eventful August month. During July we hosted two rigorous courses. Early in the month, Carlos Campabadal hosted 28 Jessi Roche participants for his IGP–KSU Feed Manufacturing course. Brandi Miller and Heather Cook traveled to Purdue University to host a grain dust explosion workshop. To bookend the month, Carlos Campabadal and Jay O’Neil hosted the USSEC’s Oilseed and Grains Purchasing Resources and Tools program.

Jay and Carlos hosted 29 participants from 10 different countries. During this three-day course, participants were challenged to expand their knowledge inside and outside the classroom by listening to presentations at the IGP Institute Conference Center and attending field trips to the Kansas Soybean Commission and Bob Haselwood’s farm near Topeka.

In August, the IGP Institute will open its doors to several course offerings. The IGP Institute has a lively four weeks

In the Spotlight • Group Managing Director of three Ag-related companies: Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery Limited, Diversay Solutions LTD. and Amo Ayng Nigerian LTD. • National President for the Poultry Association of Nigeria.

”I’ve enjoyed everything right from the beginning.

Everyone here has given us such a warm reception.”

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Rediscover WH | AUGUST 2015 1980E AT Kimball Avenue, 102 IGP Institute Conference Center | Manhattan, KS

As the summer draws to an end so does my experience here at the IGP Institute. Three summers ago, I walked into the IGP Institute building feeling overwhelmed.

I have gained many new skills during my time at the institute. These include having passion for your career, working together to achieve your goals and setting high expectations in order to succeed. Many elements have changed during my time at the IGP Institute such as courses, policies and even faculty. However, the values that they stand for have continually been strengthened.

While at the IGP Institute, I have been blessed with a hardworking and welcoming staff. These few kind words do not even begin to express my gratitude toward the Institute staff and all they have taught me. I can only hope that I have made the same positive impact on them, as they have had on me.

Jessi Roche Student Employee, IGP Institute

Marketing the Brand

• Feed Manufacturing course participant.

Ayoola Oduntan

ahead, packed full with eight courses and multiple backto-school events.

by Lisa Moser, Marketing and Communications Coordinator • Completed post-course promotions for July offerings and pre-course publicity for future trainings.

• Gathered additional video footage for upcoming course promos.

Year in Review Places 2nd Nationally Our 2014 Year in Review placed second in the national NAADA competition!

66506–7000 | Tel. 785-532-4070 | Fax 785-532-6080 | www.grains.k-state.edu/igp | igp@ksu.edu

Trainings and Activities Courses and activities held in July.

• IGP–KSU Feed Manufacturing • RAPCO Risk Management • GEAPS 542–Electrical Safety for Grain and Processing Facilities On-Demand

Participants of the RAPCO Risk Management Course tour Bob Haselwood’s (right) soybean farm.

Participants of the RAPCO Risk Management Course take a look at an industrial combine.

New Chapters

by Jacob Miller, Communications Intern

Dirk Maier

Dirk has served the last 18 months as the Feed the Future Post-Harvest Loss Reduction Innovation Lab administrative director and lead PI. Starting August 16, he will assume a new faculty position in the Department of Agricultural and BioSystems Engineering at Iowa State University. After seven years leading Kansas State’s Grain Science and Industry department and the IGP Institute, he is looking forward to his new opportunities in pursuing research and outreach in grain and feed operations and processing. He will remain engaged in international projects by leading the Post-Harvest Platform for the Global Food Security Consortium.

Venkat Polamreddy

Venkat has worked the past 18 months as the Feed the Future Post-Harvest Loss Reduction Innovation Lab managing technical director for the IGP Institute. Starting July 31, he will move to Minneapolis where he plans to spend more time with his wife and volunteer at her elementary school teaching mathematics. He has also entertained the possibility of volunteering for NGO’s Partners in Food Solutions. Venkat is thankful for all the opportunities granted to him over the years, and all the people who helped him along the way. He will always be remembered around the Institute for his warm smile and captivating stories.

Kingsly Ambrose

Mark Fowler

Kingsly has been the particle technology and materials handling engineer for the past three and a half years. He will move to Purdue University to become an assistant professor. He has loved collaborating with the institute staff over the years.

Mark will make the transition from IGP Institute associate director to president and CEO of Farmer Direct Foods Inc. Mark will continue his position at IGP until the end of the calendar year. Additional details are yet to come.

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Peruvian Wheat Buyers Look at U.S. Wheat Marketing System eru is one the few countries in South America that purchases almost all classes of U.S. wheat, which is one reason why three Peruvian wheat buyers are visiting the United States July 19 to 25, 2015. They are connecting with U.S. grain traders to learn more about the advantages of the U.S. wheat marketing system. The team’s visit focuses specifically on hard red winter (HRW) and soft red winter (SRW) production in Maryland, Virginia, Colorado and Kansas.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) worked with the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board (MGPUB), the Virginia Small Grains Board, the Colorado Wheat Commission and the

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Kansas Wheat Commission to organize this team.

“Our goal for this trade team is to encourage the practice of blending different wheat classes or protein levels to minimize input costs, so we can compete better with wheat from other sources,” said USW South American Regional Vice President Alvaro de la Fuente, who is traveling with the team. “On this tour, they have the opportunity to see the quality of the new U.S. wheat crop and how its versatility can meet their multiple end-use needs.”

Peru produces an average of 240,000 metric tons (MT) of wheat per year, most of which is

a soft variety that is not properly suited for baking, meaning only an average of 10,000 MT of their wheat is purchased by the milling industry. In 2014, U.S. wheat represented 20.9 percent of Peru’s total wheat imports with 1.95 million metric tons (MMT) led

by HRW (193,000 MT) and SRW (139,000 MT). The team members represent Peru’s major wheat importing groups, accounting for more than 40 percent of the country’s annual wheat purchases and are directly responsible for evaluating and importing wheat for their companies.

The trip began with a visit to the USW Headquarters Office in Arlington, VA, for a briefing with President Alan Tracy and Vice President of Overseas Operations Vince Peterson. They also visited USW Vice Chairman and MGPUB Commissioner Jason Scott at his farm in Hurlock, MD and toured Perdue’s export grain terminal and Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) office in Norfolk, VA. The team then traveled to Colorado and Kansas for visits to Ardent Mills, a Cargill-Byers unit train loading facility, Progressive Farms, Best Harvest Bakery, CHS and the FGIS Technical Center, as well as a meeting with Louis Dreyfus.

Throughout the tour the hosting state wheat commissions will provide their state’s crop quality outlook.

USW is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat producers and their customers.” USW activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. USW maintains 17 offices strategically located around the world to help wheat buyers, millers, bakers, wheat food processors and government officials understand the quality, value and reliability of all six classes of U.S. wheat.

The U.S. Wheat Industry Relationship with Peru Domestic wheat production in Peru is used in the rural areas and is not available to domestic millers. With the second highest per capita consumption in the region and an experienced and consolidated milling industry that is willing to use a variety of wheat classes, Peru ranks after Colombia as a major market for U.S. wheat exports in South America.

Peru is a part of USW’s South American region, which is supported by an office in Santiago, Chile. USW works directly with South American-end users and importers to help them strengthen commercial links with U.S. export companies through trade serving and technical assistance activities in the region and by facilitating visits to the United States, like the one taking place this month.

FAS cooperator U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) has worked for many years with all Peruvian wheat flour mills to introduce lower protein/lower cost U.S. wheat to its import scheme. To achieve this, USW is leveraging the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program by conducting baking seminars to demonstrate how excellent bread can be produced by changing certain techniques that perform best with U.S. wheat.

While Peruvian bakers are slow to change, this activity is making a difference. Today, according to technical staff, some companies are producing flour made with 100 percent HRW for Peru’s French bread market, which has the highest level of consumption and more potential impact on U.S. wheat sales to Peru.

As expressed by baking consultant, Didier Rosada, a renowned French master baker now living in the United States, "the future of the baking industry is in the past." He refers to the need to return to producing excellent quality bread with full aroma and great taste using old time baking methods.

The Peruvian market has been and will continue to be an important market for U.S. wheat, as perceived through various regional activities such as trade missions, trade servicing, buyer's conferences and on-going contact with buyers who trust and rely on U.S. Wheat Associates for support at all times. In addition, USW continues to plan activities designed to keep buyers up to date on the reliable supply, quality, price and value of the six U.S. wheat classes.

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Triple Tangerine Twirling Treats Directions

1. Coarsely chop one- half tangerine. (Do not peel.) Place into food processor and finely chop.

Spoon into measuring cup; add enough hot water to measure ½ cup. Set aside.

2. Juice remaining tangerines to measure 5 tablespoons. Add water if juice is too scantly. Set aside.

3. In mixer bowl with paddle, place 3 cups flour, yeast, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt; stir until combined.

4. Warm chopped tangerine mixture to 120⁰F. Add to bowl, along with 1/3 cup butter and eggs. Change to dough hook and gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft, smooth dough.

Knead 5 to 8 minutes.

5. Place dough into greased bowl.

Cover; let rise until double, 30 to 40 minutes.

6. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 15 x 12-inch rectangle.

Spread with remaining butter.

Starting with 12-inch side, fold 1/3 dough over center, and fold over again to form a 12 x 5-inch rectangle. Pinch seams together.

7. Cut into twelve 1-inch strips.

Stretch and twist dough, shaping into coils on greased or parchment paper-lined baking pans, tucking ends under. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 30 to 40 minutes.

8. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine 4 tablespoons tangerine juice, remaining sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until thick.

Cool.

9. Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Make indentations in centers of risen rolls. Fill each indentation with one teaspoon tangerine filling.

10. Bake 10 to 13 minutes to a delicate golden. Do not over bake.

Remove to cooling rack.

11. Blend remaining tablespoon juice with confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Drizzle over warm rolls.

Ingredients

2 juicy tangerines 3 ½ cups King Arthur All-Purpose Flour 2 (¼ ounce) packages Fleischmann’s® Rapid Rise™ Yeast 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided 1 teaspoon salt ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, divided 3 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon cornstarch 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

Nutrition Information Prep Time: 60 minutes Bake Time: 13 minutes Yield: 12 rolls One roll provides approximately 264 calories; 6 g protein;41 g carbohydrate; 1 g dietary fiber; 9 g fat (5 g saturated);67 mg cholesterol; 56 mcg folate; 2 mg iron and 214 mg sodium.

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News from : NAWG Weekly Updates July 2, 2015 Action on Clean Water Rule Results in Lawsuits he regulation defining Waters of the United States under the Clean Water Act was officially printed in the Federal Register.

This public printing designated a final action that starts a 60-day countdown for implementation and cleared the way for legal action. In response, four lawsuits comprised of 27 states and state agencies have been filed against the EPA.

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Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin filed suit in US District Court in Georgia.

Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming filed suit in US District Court in North Dakota.

Ohio and Michigan filed suit in US District Court in Ohio.

Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas filed suit in the US District Court in Texas.

Additional lawsuits from agriculture and business organizations as well as environmental groups are expected in the coming weeks.

Efforts to address the EPA regulation are on the list of items to consider when Congress returns from the holiday recess.

Legislation to send the regulation back to EPA is pending in the Senate but has already been passed in the House. Fiscal year 2016 funding bills for the federal agencies could also restrict funding to implement the regulation. NAWG has endorsed both of these efforts to address the regulation. We encourage all state associations and growers to share your concern regarding the expanded jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act in this regulation with Members of Congress while they were home for the 4th of July.

EPA Releases SPCC Study The EPA released a study of Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) related to farms. The study, required by the 2014 Water Resources and Reform Development Act, assesses the aggregate

aboveground storage capacity threshold for farms subject to SPCC regulations. The 2014 law established an increased capacity exemption between 2,500 gallons and 6,000 gallons aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity as long as the operation has no history of a spill. The upper level for the exemption was subject to change based on the required study. EPA’s study determined there was a lack of data to support a higher threshold for agriculture and that an appropriate threshold for all types of facilities should be 1,320 gallons. However, the law sets a base level exemption of aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity of 2,500 gallons for farms. Self-certification for farms is an option for those with less than 20,000 gallons aggregate aboveground oil storage, with no individual storage container larger than 10,000 gallons and no history of a spill. The study can be found at http://www2. epa.gov/oil-spills-preventionand-preparedness-regulations/ oil-storage-us-farms-risks-andopportunities. An information sheet on the current requirements for agriculture operations can be found at http://www2.epa. gov/oil-spills-prevention-andRediscover 2015 17 Rediscover WH WHEE AT AT || AUGUST AUGUST 2015 17

preparedness-regulations/farmsfact-sheet-explaining-impactwater.

NAWG President Hits the Hill on WOTUS, Food Aid Following the conclusion of the extended process to reauthorize Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) , National Association of Wheat Growers President Brett Blankenship was in Washington, D.C., visiting Congressional offices to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waters of the U.S. final rule and the structure of the food aid program.

Following the EPA’s announcement finalizing the WOTUS rule, there are a number of pending Congressional efforts to delay implementation and force the EPA to start over with the rulemaking process. NAWG is supportive of both stand-alone legislation introduced by Senator Barrasso (R-WY) as well as efforts within the Appropriations process to prohibit the use of funds for implementing the rule during FY 2016.

With specific respect to food aid, there have been recent hearings in the House and Senate to look at the structure of the United States’ Food for Peace program and the concept of restructuring the program to allow for more use of cash. President Blankenship discussed the importance of maintaining in-kind food aid and the effectiveness of the current program in meeting emergency needs.

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announcement yesterday. As NAWG continues to support food aid, we would like to extend our appreciation and congratulations to 2015 World Food Prize Laureate Sir Fazle Hasan Abed for his work in striving to achieve global food security.

House Agriculture Committee Holds Hearing on Biotechnology The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research held a hearing to review USDA Marketing Programs. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service Deputy Administrator for Livestock, Poultry and Seed Program Dr. Craig Morris testified. The hearing narrowed in on the ability of USDA to create a GMO-free certification.

Currently, USDA provides a third party verification of a standard or marketing claim through their process verified program (PVP).

Recently, the PVP approved the first claim that allows a company to label their product as “Non GMO/GE Process Verified.” Dr. Morris specified that this label “does not establish an approved claim for food safety nor does it establish a standard for food safety” and jurisdiction of regulatory food-labeling claims still falls under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Committee will be reviewing the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act and a substitute amendment crafted by the House Agriculture Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The substitute amendment is expected to strengthen coordination between FDA and USDA on

biotechnology labeling. You can view the hearing, testimony and opening statement at http:// agriculture.house.gov/hearing/ subcommittee-biotechnologyhorticulture-and-research%E2%80%93-public-hearing-1.

July 9, 2015 House Appropriations Committee Advances FY 2016 Ag Spending Bill The House Appropriations Committee considered and approved its version of the FY 2016 Agriculture Appropriations bill on July 8. The bill contains about $143.9 billion in both discretionary and mandatory spending, which is $3.2 billion below the President’s budget request. Within that spending is about $20.65 billion in discretionary spending, which is about $175 million below the FY 2015 enacted level. The bill was approved by voice vote.

As the Appropriations Committee began the process to prepare FY 2016 Appropriations bills, NAWG submitted a request to the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which included a request to fully fund the Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative. The bill included report language recognizing that fusarium head blight is a major threat to agriculture and indicating the Committee’s support for the research carried out through the Initiative.

The bill includes reductions to Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation programs, decreasing funding for the Environmental Quality

Incentive Program by $300 million and decreasing the annual enrollment of new acres into the Conservation Stewardship Program by 2.259 million acres. A policy provision delaying the enforcement of the Conservation Compliance link to crop insurance for the 2016 reinsurance year was also included in the bill.

During Committee consideration of the legislation, the Committee rejected several amendments that could have affected farm programs and the crop insurance program.

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) offered an amendment that would’ve required that payments under the commodity certificate program, which would be reactivated under the bill, be subject to the overall $125,000 payment limitation included in the 2014 Farm Bill. Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) offered an amendment to prohibit crop insurance premium support for producers with more than $750,000 in Adjusted Gross Income. And Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) offered an amendment that would have removed the prohibition on the disclosure of recipients of crop insurance premium support.

Each of these amendments were rejected by voice vote.

USDA Offers Margin Protection Plan USDA announced that it would begin offering a new margin protection plan for some crops during the 2016 crop year, including spring wheat for select counties in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

The intent of the program

is to help producers protect against unexpected decreases in operating margins. According to the announcement, the margin protection plan can be purchased by itself or in conjunction with the Yield Protection or Revenue Protection Policy. The last day to purchase the margin protection policy will be September 30, 2015.

Additional information about the announcement can be found at http://www.rma.usda.gov/ news/2015/07/insoption.pdf.

U.S. International Food Aid Programs: Oversight and Accountability The House Agriculture Committee continued its hearing series of U.S. international food aid program reviews by focusing specifically on the organizational management and resulting outcomes of the government agencies tasked with running the programs. Strengthening financial oversight, providing accurate records and monitoring efficiencies would allow Congress and American agriculture to distribute food into the hands of people who need it the most.

In efforts to prepare for the next farm bill, the subcommittee was interested to learn about the implementation of the changes made to food aid program in the 2014 Farm Bill. Specifically discussing the use of cash, vouchers and local and regional procurement in addition to agency accountability. NAWG continues to support in-kind food aid as one of the tools to be used in food aid. While many members showed support in keeping food in food aid as, the subcommittee and witnesses both agreed that in order to

successfully implement the international food aid programs, serious internal improvements must be made to continue the distribution of in-kind and cashbased systems.

Applications for 2015 WILOT Program Due Sept. 18 The National Wheat Foundation (NWF) is accepting applications for the 2015 Wheat Industry Leaders of Tomorrow (WILOT) program, scheduled for November 14-19, 2015. WILOT is an annual program designed for 10 wheat growers from across the country that want to become involved in state wheat grower association and state wheat commission leadership. Workshops at the 2015 event will focus on the structure and priorities of the wheat industry, agricultural policy and economics, as well as leadership, media and advocacy training. The NWF WILOT leadership development program is funded by NWF industry partner, Monsanto, and is held in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to the outstanding educational sessions, this program also gives participants the opportunity to visit Monsanto labs and talk with researchers working on wheat innovation. Growers interested in the program should review and complete the application at http:// www.wheatfoundation.org/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/NWFLeadership-Training-Application. pdf. All completed applications are due to Brian Oakes (boakes@ wheatworld.org) by September 18, 2015.

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White House Calls for Update to Biotech Framework The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) sent a memo to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the USDA calling for the three agencies to update the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology, develop a long-term strategy to ensure that the system is prepared for the future products of biotechnology, and commission an expert analysis of the future landscape of biotechnology products to support this effort. The Framework, issued in 1986 and updated in 1992, outlines a comprehensive Federal regulatory policy for ensuring the safety of biotechnology products. The White House memo can be read at https:// www.whitehouse.gov/sites/ default/files/microsites/ostp/ modernizing_the_reg_system_ for_biotech_products_memo_ final.pdf.

As the Administration works through the process to update the Coordinated Framework, they will seek public input by hosting three engagement sessions around the country.

The first listening session will occur in Washington, D.C. in fall 2015. In addition, the update to the Coordinated Framework will undergo public notice and comment before it is finalized.

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July 16, 2015 NAWG Participates in U.S. Wheat Board, Joint Committee Meetings NAWG leaders and staff were in San Diego, Calif., for U.S. Wheat Associates’ summer board meeting and meetings of the Joint Biotech Committee (JBC) and the Joint International Trade Policy Committee (JITPC). During the JBC meeting, Committee members heard from USW and NAWG staff about a range of pending issues, including updates concerning biotech labeling legislation before Congress and the potential treatment of biotech in trade negotiations.

The JITPC heard updates about other countries’ domestic support programs, Trade Promotion Authority, the status of the TransPacific Partnership, efforts to expand agricultural trade with Cuba, the reauthorization of the Grain Standards Act, and the status of other pending trade issues. NAWG CEO Jim Palmer also provided the USW Board with a briefing on NAWG’s National Wheat Yield Contest and other recent advocacy work.

The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act Mark Up The House Agriculture Committee held a mark up on HR 1599, The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015. During the business meeting Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) said, “Creating a uniform national policy regarding biotechnology labeling is the free market solution that will allow consumers access to meaningful information, create market opportunities for those on the production and processing

side, and will facilitate future innovation.” The short mark up passed a substitute amendment to the original bill, which now identifies greater coordination between FDA and USDA and creates further transparency that would create a national federal labeling standard. NAWG supports timely passage of the bill as it creates a uniform, sciencebase labeling standard.

USDA Makes CRP Announcement The USDA released a regulation to implement changes to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) required in the 2014 Farm Bill. The changes to CRP include: Lowering the overall acreage cap to 24 million acres The elimination of a financial penalty for emergency haying and grazing Altering the frequency of routine haying and grazing to allow for not more than once every two years with a 25 percent payment reduction The addition of new provisions for incidental grazing Allowing for certain conservation and land improvements in the final year of a CRP contract Continuation of the CRP Transition Incentives Program The Farm Bill also included a grasslands provision to allow for up to 2 million acres of grassland added under the CRP cap.

Enrollment for the new grassland option bill begins on September 1, 2015 with the first ranking period on November 20. USDA

previously announced a CRP general sign-up to be held from December 1, 2015 to February 26, 2016. Comments will be accepted for 60 days. NAWG will work within the Environment and Renewable Energy Committee to develop comments on the CRP program.

Growers Affected by Vomitoxin, Proper Reporting Essential to Crop Insurance Eligibility Harvest season is in full swing for much of the country’s wheat growers. This year’s added precipitation has made disease more prominent in many wheat-growing states including Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency, high levels of vomitoxin may result in either a discount in price or the requirement to destroy the grain.

RMA urges producers to always report any damage within the required timeframes and seek advice from your insurance company before proceeding with harvest or destruction of the damaged crop. Crop insurance policies require that you notify your company within 72 hours of noticing a loss. If you carry crop insurance policies subsidized or reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation you may be eligible for quality loss adjustments if the reason for the loss in value is due to a covered event, such as the excessive precipitation received this spring.

More information, provided by RMA can be found http://www. rma.usda.gov/fields/ks_rso/2015/ vomitoxintesting.pdf.

The Truth About Glyphosate: How Do Wheat Growers Use Glyphosate?

The National Wheat Foundation is doing a series of blogs, titled “The Truth About Glyphosate”, sharing the facts about glyphosate and its use in wheat. The first part of the series was posted on The Word on Wheat blog. While there are many false claims about glyphosate and its safety, the truth is regulatory and scientific authorities worldwide have concluded that glyphosate, when used according to label directions, does not pose an unreasonable risk to human health, the environment, or non-target animals and plants. The herbicide has a 40-year history of managing weeds for farmers in many crops around the world.

So, what is glyphosate?

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in many “nonselective” herbicide formulations used to control weeds. What does “non-selective” mean? A nonselective herbicide controls most plants while a selective herbicide is designed to control specific types of plants. Non-selective herbicides are used to control weeds before crop planting. In the wheat industry, for example, it means that if a grower were to apply glyphosate to growing wheat, the wheat plant will die; therefore, most wheat acres do not receive a glyphosate application during the growing season since growers do everything they can to keep the plant alive and healthy.

Broadly speaking, glyphosate use is limited in the wheat industry, if even used at all in some wheat fields. In fact, it is

applied to less than 30 percent of wheat acres in the U.S., according to an independent consumer research firm, GfK. While farmers of other crops may use glyphosate more in their operations, the application rate and use of glyphosate in wheat is dependent on other production methods, such as no-till and minimum till planting systems. Read the full blog http:// wheatfoundation.org/the-truthabout-glyphosate-part-1-how-dowheat-growers-use-glyphosate/.

July 23, 2015 House Passes Food Labeling Bill The House passed HR 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, in a 275-150 vote. The bill, led

by Rep. Pompeo (R-KS) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and co-sponsored by 106 House members, pre-empts states patchwork efforts to mandatory labeling of GMO products and create a USDA certification for non-GMO free products. Before final passage four amendments were defeated. NAWG praises passage of this bill, which establishes a uniform, sciencebased, voluntary food labeling standard. “The bipartisan efforts showcased today reflects the support from American consumers and farmers toward a consistent and transparent food label that is founded in science,” said NAWG President, Brett Blankenship, wheat grower from Washtucna, Wash.

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House Agriculture Committee Holds USDA Oversight Hearing

Senate Finance Committee Approves Tax Extenders Bill

The USDA Secretary Vilsack testified before the House Agriculture Committee during an oversight hearing of Department activities. Members of the Committee covered a range of topics in their questions, including discussion of the rule to establish conservation compliance requirements for crop insurance eligibility, the status of submission of AD-1026 forms, and the Department’s “actively engaged” proposed rule, among several other topics.

The Senate Finance Committee marked up legislation to extend several tax provisions that had expired at the end of 2014.

Included in the bill were the Section 179 expensing provision and bonus depreciation provision.

NAWG joined a broad coalition of agriculture organizations in writing the Financing Committee, urging inclusion of these important provisions for agriculture. It is unclear at this time when the bill will be considered by the full Senate.

Read the full letter at http://www. wheatworld.org/wp-content/ uploads/Ag-Industry-Letter-toSenate-Finance-Committee-reTax-Extenders-07.20.2015-FINAL. pdf.

With respect to conservation compliance, there was a discussion about the relationship of the EPA’s Waters of the US rule and compliance requirements.

Vilsack discussed how these are two separate issues, but also indicated that there may be some dis-clarity in how wetlands identified under the Clean Water Act may or may not be also identified as a wetland by NRCS. The actively engaged rule was also a topic of interest for several members of the Committee. Vilsack discussed the Department’s intention to develop a rule that follows the Farm Bill requirement to update its rules for determining farm program eligibility, while also ensuring that family farms wouldn’t be affected.

Additional information about the hearing, including Vilsack’s testimony, can be found at http:// agriculture.house.gov/pressrelease/secretary-vilsack-testifiesagriculture-committee-agencyoversight-and-accountability.

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SPCC Reform Bill Introduced Representative Crawford (R-AR) introduced H.R. 3129, the Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship (FUELS) Act, to increase the exemptions levels for farm compliance under the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulation. The bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set the level of on-farm above ground storage capacity exemption for a single container at less than 10,000 gallons and self-certification at less than 42,000 gallons aggregate storage if there is no history of a spill.

Last year the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) included provisions to increase the exemption level from 1,320 gallons to between 2,500 and 6,000 gallons pending a study from EPA. EPA released the required study and determined

that the lower level storage capacity of 2,500 gallons is the appropriate level. EPA must take action to update their regulation and information on their website to reflect the recent changes.

NAWG supports a higher exemption level and supports the FUELS Act provisions to increase the exemption levels from 2,500 gallons to 10,000 gallons.

Monsanto Wheat Center Opening NAWG attended Monsanto Company’s Wheat Technology Center grand opening ceremony on July 16 in Filer, Idaho. The location near Twin Falls, Idaho will serve as the Monsanto’s core U.S. wheat breeding R&D facility and bring together people and processes to drive innovation in wheat breeding and further streamline the wheat breeding process. The expansion included a wheat seed cleaning facility, trial preparation and seed storage and two new greenhouse facilities.

NAWG President Brett Blankenship joined Idaho officials and Monsanto executives in addressing the importance of the Wheat Technology Center to all growers in improving innovation for wheat during ceremony.

“This is a big day for wheat growers to see the investment

by Monsanto aimed to improve wheat productivity” said Brett Blankenship, NAWG’s President.

“Monsanto’s Wheat Technology Center is visible evidence of private industry’s commitment to engage in the development of innovation for wheat, which is desperately needed if we are to supply the world’s growing population.”

July 30, 2015 TPP Ministerial Conference Held in Hawaii Top negotiators from countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks are meeting in Maui, Hawaii. Though the content of the negotiations have remained secret, press reports have indicated that some of the major remaining issues being discussed include currency manipulation and dairy policy.

Congress Acts on Transportation Reauthorization Extension The House of Representatives voted 385-34 to pass a three-month extension of transportation programs and funding in order to provide more time to develop a longterm reauthorization. The Senate followed by approving the theemonth extension on a 91-4 vote.

The Senate has been working on a long-term six-year reauthorization bill, which would be paid for over three years, and which passed the Senate on a 65-34 vote.

With passage of the short-term extension, the two chambers are expected to establish a conference committee in September to attempt to develop a long-term bill that could pass through both the House and Senate.

EPA Faces New Criticism of Water Rule The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe questioned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about internal documents that identify concerns with the recently published Waters of the U.S. regulation. In a letter

to the Corps, Senator Inhofe referenced documents that indicated that the Corps was kept out of final decisions regarding the joint regulation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The letter asked for clarification on the inclusion of additional waters coming under regulation because of the new rule, and a new request for the Corps’ basis for conclusion that prairie potholes, Carolina and Delmarva bays, pocosins, western vernal pools in California and Texas coastal prairie wetlands should also be included in the regulation.

Chairman Inhofe’s letter to Jo Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, can be found at http://www. epw.senate.gov/public/_cache/ files/0b3784b6-a338-4b23-9afe7f1a4428f1ab/07.27.2015-dearsecretary-darcy-re-facts-inpeabody-memos.pdf.

National Wheat Foundation’s Wheat Harvest 2015 Photo Contest Wheat harvest 2015 is well underway and so is the National Wheat Foundation’s Photo Contest. On June 16, the National Wheat Foundation launched a photo contest to celebrate and showcase America’s dedicated wheat farmers during this year’s harvest season.

Contest entries have been pouring in from across the country and the photos are displayed on the National Wheat Foundation’s Facebook page.

Entering the contest is simple.

Email your wheat harvest 2015 pictures to kbullerman@ wheatworld.org and for your chance to win an iPad. The

contest closes August 28 and the National Wheat Foundation Board of Directors will select the winners.

Visit the National Wheat Foundation’s website to learn more and view the contest submissions at http:// wheatfoundation.org/wheatharvest-2015-photo-contest/ wheat-harvest-2015-photocontest-entries/.

NAWG Participates in Maryland Commodity Classic The Maryland Grain Producers Association, in collaboration with the Maryland Soybean Board, Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board and the Mid-Atlantic Soybean Association, held their annual Commodity Classic on July 23, at Queen Anne’s 4-H Park near Queenstown, Md. The event featured presentations from the new dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, Dr. Craig Beyrouty, National Corn Growers Association Chief Executive Officer Chris Novak, NCGA President Chip Bowling and John Ade, Senior Vice President of North American Grain at Perdue.

The Peterson Farm Brothers of Kansas provided the keynote address, where they talked about their efforts to inform the general public about the importance of agriculture and to clear misconceptions of modern day farming. NAWG and U.S. Wheat Associates staff attended the Commodity Classic, and hosted a booth to answer questions about the organizations, federal farm policy and trade.

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Wheat Industry Attends Ag Media Summit NAWG Vice President, Gordon Stoner, staff and U.S. Wheat Associates, attended the 17th Annual Ag Media Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz.

During the InfoExpo, Stoner had the opportunity to talk to several industry partners, farm broadcasters and other ag media. Stoner focused on the National Wheat Yield Contest that will be in its first year along with NAWG policy efforts. Ag media Summit is a joint meeting of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association, the Livestock Publications Council and the American Business Media Agri-Council. The event is the largest in the U.S. of the ag industry’s top writers, editors, photographers, publishers and ag communicators. More than 600 attendees joined the event and more than 75 booths participated in the InfoExpo.

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News from : July 2, 2015 Harvest Reveals Better HRW Yields, Quality; USDA Sees Bigger Total Supply

By Casey Chumrau, USW Market Analyst he latest harvest reports for the 2015 U.S. hard red winter (HRW) wheat crop indicate better than expected results despite the challenging weather events farmers faced earlier this year.

Areas of extreme drought and excessive rain still threaten overall yield and quality potential of this year’s crop but so far harvested area to date shows yields and initial test weight, protein, damage and other quality results that are somewhat better than anticipated.

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In its June 30 Acreage Report, USDA estimated total wheat area will reach 56.1 million acres, up from a March estimate of 55.4 million and 2 percent greater than the five-year average.

USDA estimates farmers planted 40.6 million acres of winter wheat for the 2015/16 harvest, down slightly from a March estimate of 40.8 million or nearly even with the five-year average. The crop went into dormancy in good or above average condition but limited snow cover left it exposed to extreme cold.

Spring came early in many regions and the break from dormancy showed worsened wheat conditions. Damaging dry conditions eventually gave way to excessive rain in the southern plains and Midwest, but condition ratings remain better than last year. As of June 28, the percentage of the crop USDA rated good or excellent was 41 percent, up from 30 percent last year at this time. USDA rated 23 percent of the winter crop as poor or very poor, down from 44 percent in 2014.

Significant weather events in the first half of the calendar year hit many HRW wheat-growing areas hard. After multiple years of drought, extreme flooding hit parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. The excessive moisture gave rise to quality and disease concerns, but with perhaps half the wheat harvested in Kansas, protein and quality are better than expected. USDA forecasts harvested area in those three states, the top HRW producers, will increase 16 percent from 2014/15 to 16.1 million acres. In the northern plains, HRW crop ratings are significantly better heading into harvest. USDA will release its first by-class production estimates on July 10.

Heavy rains have really slowed soft red winter (SRW) wheat harvest and may affect quality,

especially in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The production complications could further reduce supplies from a crop that has 10 percent fewer planted acres in for 2015/16. USDA’s estimate of 7.61 million acres — the lowest SRW planted area since 2010/11 — as lower prices last fall convinced farmers to plant more soybeans and corn.

However, farmers planted 4.34 million white wheat acres this year, the most since 2011/12 according to USDA. Each of the three predominant soft white (SW) wheat states, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, planted more acres than last year. However, the Pacific Northwest is suffering from severe drought conditions and unseasonably hot weather.

Some SW in higher elevations is already being harvested — a very early start. Joe Carlton with MidColumbia Growers in Oregon reported this week in the “Dalles Chronicle” that hot, dry conditions tend to depress yield potential and increase protein.

He also emphasized that it is too early to assess the current crop quality.

Hard red spring (HRS) planting finished well ahead of normal this year due to the early spring.

USDA estimates farmers planted 12.6 million acres of HRS, up from a March estimate of 12.1 WHEE AT AT || AUGUST AUGUST 2015 2015 25 25 Rediscover WH

million and 6 percent greater than the five-year average. Thanks to excellent growing conditions, USDA’s spring wheat crop ratings have actually improved since midMarch, which is a rare feat. As of June 28, 72 percent of the spring crop was rated good or excellent and just 5 percent was poor or very poor. In North Dakota, the largest HRS producing state, 80 percent of the crop is in good or excellent condition. According to USDA’s weekly crop progress report, 49 percent of spring wheat was headed as of June 28, compared to the five-year average of 29 percent, indicating that the HRS crop is developing faster than normal.

Durum acreage increased sharply this year as farmers responded to higher prices. USDA estimates 1.95 million acres were planted to durum, up 40 percent from 2014/15 and above the fiveyear average of 1.76 million acres.

Nearly ideal growing conditions for northern durum have the crop in excellent shape. In North Dakota, which accounts for 56 percent of total durum acres this year, the crop is rated as 91 percent good or excellent and just 1 percent poor. Unusual rain during harvest in California and Arizona caused some bleaching of Desert Durum, but traders are not having any problems meeting contract specifications. USDA expects farmers will harvest an astounding 98 percent of the durum acres planted in 2015/16.

While final chapter on the entire 2015/16 U.S. wheat crop is unwritten, U.S. farmers and the supply chain will continue working hard to provide high quality wheat for the world’s customers.

26 E AT | AUGUST 2015 26 Rediscover RediscoverWH WHE AT | AUGUST 2015

U.S. Wheat Growers See TPA as First Step to Increased Export Opportunity The following is a joint statement from the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and USW. The end of a successful bipartisan effort and the beginning of better prospects for agricultural trade as President Obama signs Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) into law.

“With reauthorization of TPA, the President has a prime opportunity to help level the playing field for wheat growers and American agriculture,” said Brett Blankenship, NAWG President and a wheat grower from Washtucna, WA. "It is now up to the Administration to use that authority to negotiate new wheat market access commitments in the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) and future trade agreements."

“Putting TPA in place is a step forward for American wheat growers,” said Roy Motter, USW Chairman and a Desert Durum® grower from Brawley, CA. “Now we need a TPP agreement that will help growers overcome the tariff advantages a lot of our competitors get through free trade agreements with importing countries. That is important because wheat demand in many of those countries is growing rapidly and we can’t afford to lose out.”

NAWG and USW applaud the tireless work of Congress and the President to get to this point, and look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to finalize strong trade deals for America’s wheat farmers.

NAWG is a federation of 22 state wheat grower associations that works to represent the needs and interests of wheat producers before Congress and federal agencies. Based in Washington, D.C., NAWG is grower-governed and grower-funded, and works in areas as diverse as federal farm policy, trade, environmental regulation, agricultural research and sustainability.

USW is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries. Its mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of U.S. wheat producers and their customers.”

USW activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by FAS. Wheat Quality Improvement Team Applies Customer Input in Their Research

By Amanda J. Spoo, USW Communications Specialist The balance of cause and effect is something that Dr. Arron Carter, assistant professor of plant breeding and genetics at Washington State University, understands well. His work in wheat breeding is two-fold, focused on yield and quality.

“Growers will select a specific line mainly based on yield potential, but they need to realize that growing high quality wheat maintains and expands market share,” said Carter.

“Breeders have to figure out how to simultaneously select for characteristics that are important to both the growers and endusers.”

To demonstrate that importance, a Wheat Quality Improvement Team (WQIT) of four university wheat breeders traveled with USW to Japan, Korea and Thailand April 18 to 26, 2015. State commissions in Oregon, Washington, North Dakota and Minnesota identified and sponsored top wheat breeders from their land grant universities to join, including Dr. Carter, Dr. Michael Flowers, Oregon State University; Dr. Mohamed Mergoum, North Dakota State University; and Dr. James Anderson, University of Minnesota.

The team’s trip included meetings with key wheat buyers, flour millers and wheat food endusers. The breeders learned about overseas customers’ opinions of U.S. SW and HRS wheat quality and shared the successful efforts that the U.S. wheat industry is currently making to improve the quality of newly released varieties. The team also took part in an Overseas Variety Analysis (OVA) program event at the UFM Baking School in Bangkok, Thailand. Through this 17-yearold program, USW sends new wheat varieties to millers and bakers in top markets each year, asking them to rank varieties based on their country standards and provide feedback. Not only was it beneficial for the breeders to hear from Asian cooperators, but it is a connection that helps the overseas quality control managers understand why their participation in the OVA program is so important.

“The end-goal is having overseas customers return as buyers year after year because they are confident in U.S. wheat

quality and performance,” said USW Vice President and West Coast Office Director Steve Wirsching, who accompanied the team. “To complete that cycle from producers to buyers and ultimately to the end-user, wheat breeding programs need opportunities to communicate with customers and listen to their needs.”

The next step for the WQIT is where the trip’s value becomes measurable.

“Criteria for designing and developing new wheat varieties are based on the product preference of consumers, so listening to our end-users’ concerns and needs was the heart of our mission,” said Mergoum.

“These customers have some concerns about U.S. spring wheat, including a decline in dark hard and vitreous (DHV) counts, flour extraction, water absorption and dough mixing ability. Growing conditions contribute to these concerns, but this update on emerging trends will be critical when we set up our research objectives. It will help me better position our breeding program to address the actual and future concerns of customers.”

“The experience helped me identify how our export market customers evaluate wheat quality so I can do the same in my breeding and selection program,” said Carter. “It also helped me better understand soft white wheat end-products and where we can improve. For example, some of those end users are blending soft white with hard white wheat from Australia in noodle recipes.

To do this effectively, they want to see us lower our polyphenol

oxidase (PPO) numbers, which control wheat color stability, which would possibly increase the percent blend of soft white they add. Therefore, in order to increase market share, we are going to put more emphasis on PPO in our soft white selections.”

The breeders also understand the responsibility they have in relaying what they have learned to producers and other wheat breeding programs.

“I have a better idea of the quality parameters and end-uses of the classes of wheat grown in my region, which I can use to assist growers in selecting high-yielding and high-quality varieties,” said Flowers. “I have passed along to breeders in my region that soft white wheat customers would like to see more emphasis on sponge cake quality and less on cookie quality.”

“We heard multiple requests to continue to prioritize quality standards by putting emphasis on end-use quality needs in lines on the market and in new varieties,” said Carter. “I plan on presenting that insight at the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Wheat Quality Council.”

“Growers support export market development by contributing part of their checkoff funds to U.S. Wheat Associates,” said Wirsching. “Sponsoring team events like this and other programs help keep our breeders and growers informed about why it is important to do what we can to develop and plant high quality varieties that overseas customers want.”

This was the fourth WQIT led by USW. In 2004, a similar Rediscover E AT | AUGUST 2015 27 Rediscover WH WHE AT | AUGUST 2015 27

trip was made to Asia, followed

by Latin America in 2009, and Europe and North Africa in 2010.

You can read previous coverage of the trip here from USW at http:// www.uswheat.org/newsEvents/ doc /49A2FEDBCAFBCFA 285257E220057F6B6?

OpenDocument, the North Dakota Wheat Commission at http://www.ndwheat.com/ growers/details.asp?nID=2591 and AgWeek at http://www.agweek. com/event/article/id/25695/.

Introducing Europe’s Next Generation of Millers to U.S. Wheat The link between food and family transcends cultures and, in some cases, industries.

European millers had the chance to witness this in action while learning about the quality of U.S. wheat and the reliability of the U.S. supply system June 21 to 27, 2015, on their trade team visits to North Dakota, Minnesota and Ohio. The team of six participants from Italy, Spain and Malta included millers from companies of varying sizes and an Italian wheat trader who does business with the mills. USW worked with the North Dakota Wheat Commission, the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council and the Ohio Small Grains Marketing Program to organize this team.

“Some of these millers are owners or someday will take over the family business,” said Rutger Koekoek, USW Rotterdam Office marketing specialist, who traveled with the team. “They have responsibilities spanning procurement, production, quality control and so this visit gave the U.S. wheat industry 28 28 Rediscover RediscoverWH WHEEAT AT| |AUGUST AUGUST2015 2015

the opportunity to develop a relationship with the next generation of decision makers.”

Based on a five-year average, the USW European Union (EU) region, which includes Israel, annually imports about 400,000 metric tons (MT) of HRS wheat.

Italy is the largest European importer of HRS wheat, averaging 70 percent of total European imports of HRS over the past three years. “These countries look to U.S. wheat for quality in HRS wheat that is ideal for use in high quality flour mixes and soft red winter wheat that is suited for biscuits, crackers and pastries,” said Koekoek. “It is important that customers feel confident about both the product and the system.”

Members of the trade team saw each step of the grain supply chain for HRS in North Dakota and Minnesota, and for SRW wheat in Ohio. The schedule included farm tours and discussions with university wheat breeders about how they are improving U.S. wheat qualities in ways that are important to overseas customers. The trip also gave participants an in depth look at the U.S. wheat grading, marketing and transportation systems.

Wheat Commissions Host Japanese Millers to Build Confidence in U.S. Supplies Japanese consumers demand the highest quality and safety in their food. To help maintain a preference for U.S. wheat to produce the best wheat foods, USW is working with the Washington Grain Commission, Oregon Wheat Commission and Idaho Wheat Commission to

arrange a visit to those states for four milling executives July 5 to 12, 2015. The trip introduced the executives to the effective U.S. wheat export supply chain from breeding to inspection and port logistics. Funding for this team is provided by the contributions of wheat farmers to USW through their state commissions.

Millers on this team were executives from mid-sized milling companies representing Japan’s National Cooperative of Millers.

This first trade team from this group of millers visited the United States in 2014.

“This was the first opportunity for some of these managers to personally observe all sectors of the Pacific Northwest wheat trade,” said Steve Wirsching, USW vice president and director of the West Coast office. “That is important because they can influence Japan’s government grain buying decisions.”

“Our market share remains strong because U.S. farmers continue to grow top quality wheat, and because we keep all of our Japanese customers fully informed about quality, supply and prices,” said Wataru “Charlie” Utsunomiya, USW Country Manager for Japan, who will lead this team. “However, we do compete with Canadian spring wheat and Australian white wheat. That is why we give milling executives the chance to discuss our logistical and quality assurance systems face-to-face with U.S. wheat farmers, breeders and exporters.”

Given the advanced state of crop development in the PNW, the team saw and experienced SW wheat harvest. Starting

their trip in Lewiston, ID, the team toured a country elevator and a terminal elevator on the Snake River, followed by a tour and dinner at Idaho wheat commissioner Joe Anderson’s farm in Genesee.

The team continued their trip in eastern Washington for two days. They started in Pullman to hear from Washington State University wheat breeders about the potential for new varieties, developed with public funds, to improve quality as well as yield. A visit to the USDA Agricultural Research Service Wheat Quality Laboratory will offer assurance that the industry’s commitment to quality remains well established and supported by the U.S. federal government.

As they traveled south toward the Columbia River, the millers observed wheat harvest and met with commercial grain handlers, with a final stop to see how wheat seed production incorporates technology to minimize environmental impact and improve safety.

In their final leg of the trip, the team has much to see in Oregon. Their day in eastern Oregon started at the Pendleton Flour Mill, and included a visit to the Bob Johns farm in Athena and a tour of the Oregon State University PendletonRuggs Wheat Research Station.

The millers completed their observations the next day with a broad overview of the Portland area export system. Following a meeting with USW West Coast Office staff, regional managers with the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) detailed their inspection system, which the

team saw in action later in the day at Columbia Grain’s export elevator.

The Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) also emphasized the quality of end products that include flour from PNW wheat.

Wheat Industry News National Wheat Foundation Hosts 2015 Wheat Harvest Photo Contest. Email your best 2015 wheat harvest pictures to kbullerman@wheatworld.org

by August 28, 2015. Foundation directors will vote to determine the winning photos. First place will receive an iPad and three runners up will receive a 50-dollar gift card. The winning photos will be displayed in the NAWG office in Washington, D.C. For more information or to view all entries visit http:// wheatfoundation.org. You can also follow along on Facebook or Twitter.

Oklahoma State University (OSU) names Jeff Edwards as head of its plant and soil sciences department on June 19. Edwards has had a long-term role with OSU Cooperative Extension working as a small grains specialist. He began serving as interim head on June 1 and his effective appointment date as department head begins August 3. To read more on this story visit www.dasnr.okstate.edu.

OSU Wheat Researcher Brett Carver honored by the Wheat Quality Council with the 2015 Millers Award. The honor annually recognizes the wheat breeder of the variety voted best by millers participating in the Council’s voluntary evaluation program. Carver earned the

award after two OSU candidate varieties – OK09125 and OK10126 – rose to the top of a pool of approximately 30 new varieties entered. Millers from across the nation tested the varieties to determine the winner.

To read the full announcement visit www.dasnr.okstate.edu.

Dupont Pioneer Gains Exclusive License for Genome-Editing Technology. The company announced a technology license and research collaboration agreement on June 23 with Vilnius University to further the technical and commercial utility of guided Cas9 genome editing technology. Under the agreement, DuPont receives an exclusive license to Vilnius University intellectual property for all commercial uses, including in agriculture. In addition, Vilnius University and DuPont have entered into a multiyear research collaboration to advance the development of the technology. Read the full story on the announcement http:// www.oklahomafarmreport. com/wire/news/2015/06/09944 _DuPontGenomeEditingTech VilniusU062315_115524.php#.

VZqwSBtVhHw. Michigan Wheat Program Updates, Expands Website. The site at www.miwheat.org includes program event registration and tabs for news, consumer and farmer resources, research, social media, marketing and more. Visit the site at www.miwheat.org.

Best Wishes to Dr. David Shelton, who has resigned as executive director of the Wheat Marketing Center, Portland, OR, after 16 years of distinguished service. WMC is Rediscover 2015 29 Rediscover WH WHEE AT AT || AUGUST AUGUST 2015 29

one of the premier wheat industry educational organizations in the United States and owes much of its success to Dr. Shelton.

A search for the next WMC executive director is underway.

Congratulations to Domenique de Oliveira Opperman and her family on their newest addition.

A baby boy, Javier Cruz, was born June 18, 2015. Domenique represents USW as a programs coordinator for the Sub-Saharan Africa Region in the USW Cape Town office.

Members Named to Seven Agricultural Trade Advisory Committees. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and United States Trade Representative Michael Froman announced on June 29 the appointment of 130 private-sector members to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) and six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs). USW President Alan Tracy was appointed to APAC while Ron Suppes, Kansas wheat farmer, and Neal Fisher, North Dakota Wheat Commission, were appointed to the ATAC for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds. These groups of committee members will serve until June 15, 2019. View the full list and story http://www.fas. usda.gov/newsroom/membersnamed-seven-agricultural-tradeadvisory-committees.

IGP Institute Grain Drying Distance Education Course. This Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) professional development course gives an overview of grain drying and effects on end-use quality, capacity and energy efficiency, 30 30 Rediscover RediscoverWH WHEEAT AT| |AUGUST AUGUST2015 2015

and familiarizes students with available grain dryer types and their utilization for drying specific grains. The course is September 14 to October 16.

Registration closes on September 1. For more information or to register, visit www.grains.ksu. edu/igp.

uly 16, 2015 USDA Provides First By-Class Harvest Estimates of the Year

By Casey Chumrau, USW Market Analyst It has been a challenging year for many wheat farmers across the United States. With more than 65 percent of winter wheat in the bins and the spring wheat crop maturing, USDA provided the first by-class estimates of the year in its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) on July 10.

The report delivered optimistic production news for hard wheat farmers, but was not as generous to soft wheat growers.

Despite weather challenges, USDA increased U.S. production from its June estimate by 740,000 metric tons (MT) to 58.5 million metric tons (MMT). That is 6 percent more than last year. If realized, it would be the largest crop in three years despite having the lowest estimated planted area in that same period. USDA expects production will increase in all but one class. Thanks to favorable weather in spring wheat areas, USDA increased total projected planted area to 56.1 million acres, down from 56.8 million last year but greater than the five-year average of 55.1 million acres.

The multiple year drought in the southern U.S. plains that gave way to flooding rains in May affected a key part of the hard red winter (HRW) production region. Harvest is complete in that region and though there is much variability, many farmers have seen better than expected yields and quality. USDA’s latest estimates show somewhat better crop conditions as the harvest moved into the northern plains.

USDA pegged total HRW production at 23.6 MMT, which would be up 17 percent from last year and slightly better than the five-year average of 23.2 MMT. USDA expects HRW exports will rebound slightly to 8.02 MMT after hitting an all-time low in 2014/15 at 7.35 MMT. If realized, HRW exports will fall short of the five-year average of 11.5 MMT. Growers of both hard red spring (HRS) and northern durum are very optimistic ahead of harvest.

Conditions have been favorable for both classes throughout the season. In fact, USDA increased its crop condition rating of spring wheat on July 12 putting 71 percent of the crop in good or excellent condition categories.

Only 6 percent of the crop is considered poor or very poor.

USDA now anticipates HRS production to reach the highest level since 1996/97, despite having the fifth smallest planted area in that 20-year period. USDA expects durum production will increase 42 percent year-overyear to 2.06 MMT, besting the five-year production average by 11 percent despite an average planted area. High protein wheat from other suppliers is likely to be limited again this year, setting up excellent export prospects. USDA

predicts HRS and durum sales both will be the highest since 2010/11. According to USDA, HRS exports will reach 8.85 MMT, 22 percent greater than the five-year average and durum exports will reach 1.09 MMT, compared to the five-year average of 903,000 MT. The July WASDE painted a different picture of soft wheat classes. USDA projects white wheat production, the majority of which is soft wheat, will increase 7 percent to 6.51 MMT, but extreme heat and dry conditions have cut the crop potential.

Average yield predictions dropped from a June estimate as conditions worsened. Despite planting the most white wheat acres in five years, farmers will see total 2015/16 production fall below the five-year average of 7.28 MMT, USDA predicted. There is a brighter spot for white wheat farmers: USDA expects exports will increase 6 percent year-overyear to 4.22 MMT, although that volume would fall short of the five-year average of 4.86 MMT. The prospects for soft red winter (SRW) have not improved as harvest progresses, which the July WASDE reflected. The effects of excessive rains the last few months resulted in lower than anticipated yields, further reducing an already small crop.

USDA predicts total 2015/16 SRW production will reach 10.7 MMT, down 14 percent from last year and short of the five-year average of 11.5 MMT. However, USDA does expect SRW exports to increase 2 percent from last year to 3.67 MMT, which would be short of the five-year average of 4.81 MMT. The USDA provided some early benchmarks with its July WASDE.

North Dakota Wheat Farmer Installed as USW Chairman

to maintain and build demand around the world.”

By Amanda J. Spoo, USW Communications Specialist

O’Toole is the third generation on T.E. O’Toole Farms, a century farm where he works alongside his cousin Tom O’Toole, daughter Allison Olimb and son Kelly O’Toole. They produce HRS wheat and several varieties of wheat seed, navy beans, black beans, pinto beans, soybeans, corn and sugar beets.

Crop yields, market prices and weather are all a part of a wheat farmer’s daily conversation and often before they finish their second cup of morning coffee.

It is all in a day’s work for Brian O’Toole, whose zest for farming is driven by his curiosity.

“I love what I do and becoming involved in leadership positions within the wheat industry is important to me because there is always more to learn,” said O’Toole, a wheat farmer and seedsman from Crystal, ND. “When half of our wheat production in the United States is available every year for export markets, it is important to learn why we grow it, who is using it and what the customers expect from farmers.”

O’Toole took the reins as Chairman of the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Board of Directors during the organization’s annual meeting July 12 to 15, 2015 in San Diego, CA, and will spend the next year leading the organization.

He received the gavel from Roy Motter, a Desert Durum® farmer from Brawley, CA, who completed his year as Chairman at the meeting., “I am honored to continue representing all U.S. wheat farmers overseas,” O’Toole said.

“I truly believe that the work this organization does in overseas education and promotion is essential to marketing our wheat.

It’s a growing world and I am excited to be a part of the mission

Farming and family have always gone hand-in-hand for the O’Tooles. Brian’s wife Sara, four grown children and three grandchildren each have a role on the family farm. After growing up on the farm and attending the State School of Science in Wahpeton, ND, O’Toole began his own farming career by renting land and growing potatoes. He then started a trucking business to haul his potatoes to processing plants in the southeast part of the country. In 1996, O’Toole took over the small seed cleaning and conditioning business that his father had started. Since then, the business has expanded considerably. He is President of T.E. O’Toole Farm Seed Co., which conditions 250,000 bushels of wheat and 800,000 bushels of soybeans annually, as well as storing navy and pinto beans for Viterra in Carmen, Manitoba.

“My family is involved so heavily with the success of this farm.

We have learned that farming has good and bad years and you pray for more good than bad,” said O’Toole. “A farmer looks to the sky knowing the approaching clouds could either bring him an abundant harvest or wash away any chance of it. The values of our family farm can best be WHEEAT AT || AUGUST AUGUST 2015 2015 31 31 Rediscover WH

measured in the appreciation my children have for the land and their willingness to put feeding a hungry world over personal material value.”

Serving as a leader in agriculture and his community is a common role that O’Toole has as a farmer. He has served as a North Dakota wheat commissioner since 2005 and on a number of state and local boards, including the Wheat Marketing Center and its Lab Services Board, Agronomy Seed Farm, SBARE Wheat Granting Committee, North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association, and Crystal Farmers Elevator Co-op. Other boards that O’Toole has been involved in include the Red River Potato Growers Association, Pembina County Memorial Hospital Board, Pembina County Farm Bureau and at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. O’Toole has previously received the Young Outstanding Farmer Award, Master Farmer Award and Friends of 4-H Award. He and Sara were also Pembina County North Dakota State University Harvest Bowl Honorees.

Looking ahead, Brian and Sara will have an important role in representing U.S. wheat farmers.

“U.S. wheat has loyal overseas customers who continue to see the value and quality in the product they are purchasing,” said O’Toole. “It is important to be at their doorsteps because there is still new information to share each year. That is why USW continues to sustain its commitment to our industry and its relationships with our customers.”

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Other officers installed at the USW meeting included Jason Scott, Stevensville, MD, as Vice Chairman and Mike Miller, Ritzville, WA, as SecretaryTreasurer. Last year’s Chairman Motter, transitioned to Past Chairman and Chairman of the USW Budget Committee. USW officers were elected to these oneyear positions at the January 2015 Winter Wheat Conference in Washington, DC. USW's next board meeting will be held jointly with the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) in Lake Tahoe, NV, November 3 to 6, 2015.

International Trade Policy Leaders Review Key Issues at USW Summer Board Meeting

By Dalton Henry, USW Director of Policy Members of the NAWG and USW Joint International Trade Policy Committee (JITPC) met during the 2015 USW Summer Board Meeting July 12 to 15, 2015 to discuss barriers to world wheat trade, faced by U.S. growers and their overseas customers. Those in attendance included growers from the across the member-states of USW. Members received updates on the USW wheat sectoral initiative, a project aimed at creating an agreement among countries to eliminate both import and export barriers to trade. The measure would increase food security in importing countries by ensuring that participating nations would have reliable access to wheat supplies in exporting nations.

Representatives from several countries expressed support for the concept presented at the

World Trade Organization in June in Geneva, Switzerland by USW President Alan Tracy and Policy Consultant Shannon Schlecht.

The proposal would also remove tariffs and other import barriers, leading to lower costs for millers and consumers around the world.

Committee members also received updates on the status of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, which are progressing quickly after congressional passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in June. There will be a TPP ministerial conference at the end of July 2015 in Hawaii where some analysts believe the negotiations could finally conclude.

NAWG Legislative Director Josh Tonsager joined the committee to provide an overview of current, active congressional topics. One in particular, reauthorization of the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), will likely move in Congress in the near future.

The reauthorization bill is of key importance to USW and their customers, who rely on the inspection service to guarantee the content and quality of wheat shipments. The inspection agency’s current authorization expires September 30.

Tonsager was pleased to share that it appears the final FGIS legislation will include language guaranteeing that inspection services continue uninterrupted in the event of future labor disputes. NAWG and USW support that legislative change seeing it as essential to prevent a repeat of inspection interruptions that occurred in summer 2014 at the Port of Vancouver.

The committee meeting will hold its next meeting at a joint USW and NAWG boards of directors meeting November 3 to 6, 2015 in Lake Tahoe, NV. USW Announces Two New Staff Assignments USW recently announced that Market Analyst Casey Chumrau will transfer to the organization’s Santiago, Chile, office as Marketing Manager for South America, and Planning and Programs Assistant Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann will move into the Market Analyst position.

Each have started a transition to their new assignments, which will officially start in mid-September 2015.

“Casey is taking a newly created position in a region where wheat demand is growing in several markets,” said USW Vice President of Overseas Operations Vince Peterson. “We are happy we can provide this kind of opportunity to a talented young associate and at the same time expand our ability to serve customers in ways that increase demand for U.S. wheat.”

Latin America now represents about 40 percent of total U.S. wheat exports. Annual exports to South America the past five years averaged 3.3 MMT and included five of the six U.S. wheat classes.

That represents significant growth compared to the five-year annual average of 2.2 MMT per year as of marketing year 2011/12 (June to May).

Chumrau, who joined USW in 2011, will report to Regional Vice President Alvaro de la Fuente.

A Montana native, Chumrau

earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Montana and bachelor’s degrees in history and Spanish from the University of Oregon. Fluent in Spanish, Chumrau also studied abroad in Chile and Italy and spent a year working in Costa Rica.

Bryant-Erdmann was raised and worked on her family’s Nebraska cattle ranch and earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in agricultural education. Her master’s program thesis at Cornell University’s Institute for Public Affairs focused on the economic feasibility of exporting Kenyan cheese to the United Arab Emirates. At the same time, she was working as an intern at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Trade Information Center where she helped create educational materials for U.S. organizations looking to export products and services.

“Stephanie joined our organization a year ago and quickly demonstrated competence and an interest in new assignments like this,” said Vice President of Communications Steve Mercer. “Market analysis is a big part of our outreach to overseas wheat buyers and our industry stakeholders at home so that position is moving into our communications function.”

Erica Oakley Joins USW as Programs Manager USW welcomed Erica Oakley to its Arlington, VA, headquarters office staff as Programs Manager July 6, 2015. In that position, Oakley is helping implement export market development activities planned and managed

by USW’s domestic staff, including consulting assignments, board team trips and assistance with customer conferences. She reports to Director of Programs and Planning Jennifer Sydney.

“We are pleased to have Erica join us in an important position,” Sydney says. “Her experience and interest in international food marketing and assistance is exceptional.”

Oakley joins USW after serving as an Associate at Humanitas Global, Washington, DC, since 2012. There she managed programs in food and nutrition security, food sustainability, agriculture and public-private partnership development.

Members and funders of this non-governmental organization include the World Food Prize, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

She also worked in Washington as a Program Associate at AED, now FHI 360, supporting a USAID Title II-funded Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance II (FANTA-2) project working to strengthen food security and nutrition policies, programs, and systems. Before that, Oakley was a Project Associate at Washingtonbased Futures Group.

A native of North Carolina, Oakley earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies at Meredith College, Raleigh, NC, and a master’s degree in international relations from Utrecht University in The Netherlands.

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Wheat Industry News To Combat Misconceptions Surrounding Glyphosate Use, the National Wheat Foundation has launched a blog series focused on sound science and facts about wheat and glyphosate.

Read the first blog at http:// wheatfoundation.org/the-truthabout-glyphosate-part-1-how-dowheat-growers-use-glyphosate/, and join the conversation by using #glyphosatefacts on Facebook and Twitter.

Michael Dwyer Joins U.S. Grains Council (USGC) as Chief Economist. In this newly created role, Dwyer will lead an expansion of the USGC’s strategic thinking about the global marketplace.

Previously Dwyer worked for USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) as the director of global policy analysis, responsible for conducting and coordinating analyses on a wide variety of strategic issues that affected U.S. and world agricultural trade.

USW frequently collaborates with USGC in customer outreach and looks forward to continuing that work with Dwyer.

The Henry J. Stumpf International Wheat Center officially opened June 23 in Grant, NE, in conjunction with a West Central Water and Crops Field Day to begin the process of becoming a hub for agriculture science. The center will do international research, demonstrations and teach wheat-based system practices.

According to university officials, the practices done at the wheat center will be “applicable to wheat production worldwide.” Read the full story on the announcement at http://www.granttribune.

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com/index.php?option=com_co ntent&view=article&id=1125 1:stumpf-wheat-center-nowopen&catid=57:featured-articles.

Saskatchewan Wheat Research and Development Center Planned.

Canterra Seeds and France-based Limagrain have announced an agreement to establish a new cereal breeding and development partnership, Limagrain Cereals Research Canada, to be located in Saskatoon, SK. This new partnership aims to develop new varieties of cereals, with a specific focus on wheat, using the most advanced technologies currently available. Read the full story on the announcement at http://www. agrimarketing.com/s/97176.

WestBred Dedicates Wheat Technology Center. The wheat seed company WestBred officially dedicated its new research and development center in Twin Falls, ID. Rather than having breeders and technologies spread across five locations, people and processes work together at the center to improve the quality and speed of innovation in wheat. More information will be available at http://www.westbred. com/innovation/pages/breeding. aspx.

Congratulations to Monique den Ouden and Her Family on their newest addition. A baby girl, Sunny, was born Thursday, June 25, 2015 weighing 2,300 grams.

Monique represents USW as a secretary in its Rotterdam office.

According to the other Rotterdam staff, “Sunny is gaining weight and is catching up with all the other blushing Dutch babies.”

July 30, 2015 Spring Wheat Tour Sees Record

Yield Potential in 2015/16 Crop

By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Programs and Planning Assistant As the combines roll on to harvest 2015/16 U.S. winter wheat crops, 65 people gathered in Fargo, ND, this week to assess the yield and quality potential of the year’s spring wheat on the annual Hard Red Spring Wheat Tour July 27 to 30. The tour included representatives from some of the largest milling, baking, transportation and grain merchandising companies in the world, as well as major exporting and importing countries, including Canada, Australia, Japan and China. The Wheat Quality Council (WQC) organizes the tour.

I was happy to get “up close and personal” with the crop on behalf of USW. After getting an orientation and hearing expert opinions about conditions, we joined teams of four to five people assigned to one of eight daily routes. Teams made ten or more random stops each day to count seed heads and spikelets and calculate estimated yield potential. The teams used that data to determine an average for the route and estimated a cumulative average for the day when we came together in the evening.

At the end of the tour, just a few hours before USW published this issue of "Wheat Letter," the cumulative estimated average yield potential for the hard red spring (HRS) crop was 49.9 bushels per acre (bu/ac) or almost 3.4 metric tons (MT) per hectare.

That is the highest HRS yield potential the tour has estimated since it started in 1992.

This year’s tour scouted 446 fields, 43 more than in 2014.

Scouts also estimated durum yield potential at 39.2 bu/ac, up from 36.6 bu/ac in 2014. Hard red winter (HRW) had the highest increase in estimated production at 49.0 bu/ac compared to 44 bu/ acre in 2014 based on data from eight fields. Total wheat yield, including all three classes, stood at 49.5 bu/ac, the most in the past 10 years.

Following are reports from each day of the 2015 tour. Twitter users can review Tweets and photos from the tour by searching #wheattour15.

Scouts battled challenging conditions on July 28, with a nearby low pressure system pushing unusually high winds.

This was not good for the scouts, nor for the wheat. Each team saw significant “lodging” in many fields. On this first day of the tour, Dave Green from ADM reported that participants stopped at 175 locations, up from 162 last year.

The day’s estimated average yield of 48.9 bu/ac was slightly higher than last year's day-one average of 47.5 bu/ac, which is in line with USDA’s current spring wheat crop rating.

Julie Ingwersen with Reuters reported from the tour that this is also the highest day-one average in 21 years. Her report included caveats that the real effect of foliar disease pressure will appear at harvest, which could start in southern North Dakota in less than two weeks.

The wind continued to howl on July 29, as teams scouted 173 fields in central and western North Dakota. They calculated an average yield potential of 46.6

bu/ac. Farmers were concerned about the lodging. They said the wind knocked the crop down again after it had recovered from lodging under recent heavy rain events.

“I was done seeding wheat

by April 22, the earliest that I have ever finished,” said David Clough, wheat farmer and wheat commissioner from Fessenden, ND. “We seeded in the dust, didn’t get rain, then we finally did. That is why the scouts saw fields at many different levels of maturity, which is somewhat typical, but leaves a portion of the crop vulnerable to shattering. But it is a good crop with some issues so the next few weeks will really be telling.”

Scouts headed out on July 30, for the final day of the North Dakota Wheat Tour as a brief rain shower swept through the area. Half of the cars headed out to continue scouting as usual, while the other half headed over to the North Dakota Mill and Elevator for a tour of the largest single-site mill in the Western Hemisphere before resuming scouting. All the teams came back together in Fargo to calculate final yield projections.

For more information, visit the WQC website at http://www. wheatqualitycouncil.org.

Trade Teams from Several Markets See July Wheat Harvest Every year from spring to early fall, USW organizes trade team visits that help customers learn about U.S. wheat production and marketing systems, as well as to connect those customers directly to U.S. wheat farmers.

Throughout the month of July,

trade teams from Peru, Algeria and Korea traveled to the United States for the opportunity to ask questions, build relationships and learn why U.S. wheat is the world’s most reliable supply.

Accompanied by their regional USW representative, the participants range from millers and bakers to grain purchasers, traders and executives.

USW has already sponsored 10 trade team visits in 2015 and is expecting four more before the end of September. These teams represent at least 12 countries and 55 percent of total 2014/15 U.S. commercial wheat sales as reported by USDA. In addition to funding from USDA/Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) market development programs, state wheat commissions support these trips through their checkoff dollars. They also help organize itineraries and accompany the team traveling in their state, playing an essential role in the success of trade teams.

Peru is one the few countries in South America that purchases almost all classes of U.S. wheat and three Peruvian wheat buyers came to see some of those crops July 19 to 25, 2015.

They connected with U.S. grain traders to learn more about the advantages of the U.S. wheat marketing system, while focusing specifically on soft red winter (SRW) and HRW production in Maryland, Virginia, Colorado and Kansas. USW worked with the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, the Virginia Small Grains Board, the Colorado Wheat Commission and the Kansas Wheat Commission to organize this team.

RediscoverWH WHEEAT AT| AUGUST | AUGUST2015 2015 35 35 Rediscover

“Our goal for this trade team was to encourage the practice of blending different wheat classes or protein levels to minimize input costs, so we can compete better with wheat from other sources,” said USW South American Regional Vice President Alvaro de la Fuente, who traveled with the team. “They also had the opportunity to see the quality of the new U.S. wheat crop and how its versatility can meet their multiple end-use needs.”

Algerians enjoy their bread and couscous and the North African nation is one of the world’s largest wheat importers. USW sponsored two officials from the Algerian Office of Cereals (OAIC) to visit the United States July 25 to Aug. 1, 2015, to learn about current durum and bread wheat quality and the U.S. wheat export supply system. USW worked with the California Wheat Commission, the North Dakota Wheat Commission and the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council to organize this team.

“There is an opportunity to foster demand for U.S. wheat to blend with Algerian standard flour,” said Ian Flagg, USW’s Regional Director for the Middle East, East and North Africa, who traveled with the team. “The goal of this visit was to demonstrate the versatility and quality of U.S. bread wheat classes and reinforce the value of U.S. durum wheat for semolina.”

Flagg said bringing OAIC officials to the United States complements USW’s trade service and technical assistance in Algeria. That work, conducted with funds from FAS market development programs, plays a 36

Rediscover WHE AT | AUGUST 2015

pivotal role in proving the value and comparable performance of U.S. wheat to produce flour for baguette bread and other products as well as semolina for couscous in Algeria.

U.S. Wheat Organizations Step Up Engagement in Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives

Korean Wheat Crop Survey Team. Two executives representing Korean flour milling companies have been chasing combines in the Palouse region of Washington and the Columbia river valley of Oregon starting July 26 to get a first look at this year’s wheat crop. USW, the Washington Grain Commission and the Oregon Wheat Commission sponsor their visit, which included a stop in Portland, OR, to learn more about the U.S. wheat supply system. The team returned home Aug. 1.

A rapidly emerging food marketing trend is the concept of “sustainable production.”

Sustainability is not clearly defined and therefore means something different to each participant in the value chain.

The stakes are high in this game for industry impact and environmental protection, and this creates challenges for producers. U.S. farmers are committed to continuous improvement, and that is why U.S. wheat industry organizations are actively engaged in relevant sustainability initiatives.

The guests are Mr. Ha Jae Lee, who is a production director with Daehan Flour Mills Co., Ltd., and Mr. Jeom Dae Kim, who is the managing director of Samwha Flour Mills Co., Ltd. Their guide is Chang Yoon Kang, USW country director based in Seoul, Korea, who said they hoped to see the SW, HRW and possibly HRS wheat harvests.

“These are buyers for a market that is increasingly sophisticated so it is very important that they see this year’s crops,” Kang said.

“Gaining a better understanding of the entire wheat chain, from the farm to the export elevator, will also help give them greater confidence in U.S. wheat supplies.”

By Elizabeth Westendorf, USW Policy Specialist

For example, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) is a member of Field To Market®: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, a coalition focused on “promoting, defining and measuring the sustainability of food, fiber and fuel production.”

Field to Market pioneered a “fieldprint calculator,” which allows farmers to input information about their operations, compare themselves to others and track improvement over time. Many Field to Market members are involved in fieldprint projects in regions where food companies source ingredients for their products. Field to Market has also produced two national indicator reports assessing sustainability trends for wheat, corn, cotton, potatoes, rice and soybeans. USW attended a Field to Market plenary session held in Washington, DC, earlier this year

and saw how both food companies and farmers are working to decrease their environmental impact while producing high quality, reliable food supplies.

Internationally, questions about production practices have led USW to join the U.S. Sustainability Alliance (USSA), a group of American agricultural organizations committed to responsible resource management. USSA works to inform international customers about current U.S. efforts in sustainability. As customers worldwide take a greater interest in how their food is produced, it has become more important to share what U.S. farmers have been doing for generations.

For most people in U.S. agriculture, sustainability is second nature, even if we do not refer to it that way.

Farmers have built it into production habits and best management practices, but rarely talked about it until recently.

Sustainability is incorporated into conservation programs, incentivizing improvements on highly erodible land, reducing soil loss or encouraging nutrient management plans for farmers.

Sustainability is also about smart business — using more efficient production methods to reduce inputs while increasing yields.

Purchasers and consumers see agricultural practices, including precision applications, minimum tillage and cover crops, as sustainable methods that not only help protect the environment, but can also increase a farmer’s bottom line.

In pursuit of sustainability, NAWG and USW believe there is no finish line. Sustainability

is about applying innovations that contribute to continuous improvement, for both customer needs and farmer profitability. It is a thread that connects farmer action, government policy and scientific innovation to ensure healthy ecosystems for future generations. It requires new ideas and approaches to perennial problems, and there is no one right answer.

NAWG and USW are working to address sustainability every day by helping to create industry conversations and meet domestic and overseas customers’ evolving needs. A key part of our engagement in sustainability is telling the critical story of what U.S. wheat farmers are doing today that contributes to a productive future in agriculture and the food industry.

Wheat Marketing Center Seeks Next Executive Director Providing opportunities for education and technical assistance is a priority for USW and the wheat farmers the organization represents in overseas markets.

The chance to learn by interacting with industry experts in courses at these institutions is a crucial part of how the U.S. wheat industry serves its domestic and overseas customers. USW relies on educational partners like ABA International, Kansas State University’s IGP Institute, the Northern Crops Institute at North Dakota State University and the Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) in Portland, OR, These are places where customers can gain valuable hands-on experience and build trust that U.S. wheat is the most consistent, reliable and versatile wheat in the world.

Now one of these organizations, WMC, is searching for a new executive director to work with its board, which includes many U.S. wheat farmers, and other stakeholders to fulfill the organization’s mission.

WMC’s job announcement says the executive director will manage daily operations and is accountable for the effective delivery of services and programs “in wheat utilization research, educating the wheat industry on end-use quality characteristics, and promoting partnerships and facilitating dialogue among wheat industry leaders, both domestically and internationally.”

A job description is available at http://wmcinc.org/images/ ExecutiveDirectorJobDesc.pdf.

The search committee will accept applications for the position until Sept. 1, 2015, and asks that inquiries, applications and resumes/CVs be sent via email to ceoapplication@wmcinc.org.

Wheat Industry News NRGene Has Mapped the Complete Wild Emmer Wheat Genome in one month, significantly accelerating global research into crop improvement.

"The repercussions of the mapping will be felt around the world," said Assaf Distelfeld, PhD, of Tel Aviv University, a renowned wheat geneticist and the primary researcher on the project. "Scientists will now be able to identify key genes in the emmer wheat and introduce them into commercial wheat via classical breeding, creating hardier varieties across environmental conditions, ultimately increasing the global food supply." To read the full story visit agrimarketing.com.

RediscoverWH WHEEAT AT| |AUGUST AUGUST2015 2015 37 37 Rediscover

Noble Foundation Receives $1.35 Million Grant to Advance Gene Research. Researchers at The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Michigan Technological University and University of California, Riverside recently received a three-year, $1.45 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

This grant will help scientists study how genes or groups of genes (genotypes) connect to and control the characteristics traits (phenotypes) of plants. This would turn gene data into valuable information for plant breeders to use when breeding improved varieties. To read the full story visit oklahomafarmreport.com.

USDA, Microsoft to Launch “Innovative Challenge” to Address Food Resiliency. The contest explores how climate change will affect the U.S. food system with the intent of achieving better food resiliency. The challenge invites entrants to develop and publish new applications and tools that can analyze multiple sources of information about the nation's food supply, including key USDA data sets now hosted on Microsoft Azure, Microsoft's cloudcomputing platform. To read the full story and watch the video, visit oklahomafarmreport.com.

NAWG Counters Claims of Glyphosate Misuse. “The concern that Roundup is being dumped onto wheat plants is just patently not true,” Brett Blankenship, a wheat grower from Washtucna, WA, and president of NAWG, told Milling & Baking News.

“We’re very sensitive that we are the front line in the production of a consumer product. We know [glyphosate is] a safe product to use according to 38 Rediscover RediscoverWH WHEEAT AT ||AUGUST AUGUST2015 2015 38

the label. That’s why we are very careful.” In addition, the National Wheat Foundation has launched a blog series focused on sound science and facts about wheat and glyphosate.

Read the first blog at http:// wheatfoundation.org/the-truthabout-glyphosate-part-1-how-dowheat-growers-use-glyphosate/, and join the conversation by using #glyphosatefacts on Facebook and Twitter.

University of Alberta Researchers Announce Possible Celiac Relief. The university reported recently that scientists there developed “a natural supplement from the yolks of chicken eggs that prevents the absorption of gliadin, a component of gluten that people with celiac disease have difficulty digesting. The research may prove to be welcome news for celiac patients around the world.” The university release said the next step is an efficacy trial and the supplement could be available within three years.

Updated Gluten-Free Lit Review Published. The Grain Foods Foundation (GFF) reports that Glenn Gaesser, PhD, chair of GFF's scientific advisory board, published a new literature review on the gluten-free diet in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. Titled "Navigating the gluten-free boom: from essential medical treatment to ill-conceived fad diet," the review confirms there is no published experimental evidence supporting a gluten-free diet for weight loss in individuals without celiac disease or gluten-related disorders.

Condolences. USW recently learned of the passing of USW consultant Don Sullins’ mother on July 8. Our thoughts are with Don and his family during this time.

Best Wishes to Mark Fowler, who will become executive director of Farmer Direct Foods, Atchison, KS, Aug. 3, 2015, and will transition from his current position as assistant director of Kansas State University’s IGP Institute through the fall academic semester. Many U.S. wheat importers and overseas millers know Mark well from his dedicated service at IGP Institute and in consulting roles with USW. Congratulations to Shannon Schlecht, recently named Executive Director of Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, an innovative nonprofit that fuels economic growth in Minnesota.

Schlecht, who was with USW for 15 years, most recently as Vice President of Policy, will assume overall strategic and operational responsibility for the institute’s staff, programs and execution of its mission. USW wishes him the best in his new endeavor.

Read the full announcement at http://www.southernminn.com/ waseca_county_news/features/ article_9c6cacec-91a0-59dc-9dd24cbc631ba912.html.

Follow USW Online. Visit thier page at www.facebook. com/uswheat for the latest updates, photos and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter at www.twitter. com/uswheatassoc, additional photos at www.flickr.com/ photos/uswheat, plus video stories at www.youtube.com/ uswheatassociates.

Hello Kansas Wheat.

Maltby Market Analysis

by Dan Maltby

Lower markets were recorded, again, all week in most commodities, and Friday’s poor close has been followed by lower openings Sunday.

Last week I opened this wire with a corn chart, which I said “looked toppy”, and this updated Dec 15 corn chart shows no buy signals…this chart includes Sunday night’s very weak action…

You can see tonight’s GAP LOWER OPENING. The red line is old contract lows, which appear to be a magnet, or certainly at least the target. US corn weather has improved pushing the concern over the hot dry weather in Europe and the resulting EU corn production decreases to the back burner.

This 10 year corn chart unfortunately for corn producers shows buyers in general are not concerned…

Charts and discussions follow, with the goal of giving you useful information to help you with your business. My disclaimer remains the same: these are my sometimes rapidly changing opinions; the markets are quite treacherous; and past performance is no guarantee…dm

Kansas Wheat market update #180 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 07/24/15 pg. 1

Rediscover WHE AT | AUGUST 2015 39

The recent corn price shelling has only very slightly firmed the KC wheat/corn spread:

Thus as corn is not supporting wheat, neither is wheat supporting corn…

Recent Commitment of Traders reports show “the funds” are long corn futures, and probably under water.

Soybeans don’t appear any friendlier…

That red line is just below $9.00, another magnet.

And so…when we take a peek at a wheat chart, surely we expect bad news, and even though we expect it, it indeed is not pretty. Here is a nearby KC Sept wheat chart, showing a red line magnet just under $5.00: Kansas Wheat market update #180 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 07/24/15 pg. 2 40

Rediscover WHE AT | AUGUST 2015

And unfortunately, the long term weekly continuous wheat chart suggests that while $5.00 is cheap, prices can get cheaper, as the longer term red line magnet is probably more like $4.50…

Last week we saw a Canadian spring wheat crop tour, and the WQC USA spring wheat tour is this week, and while the Canadian crop is not as big as last year’s, somewhere between 25 and 26.5 million tonnes, it is far from a disaster, and the USA crop will be plenty big, especially in Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. Much of this is expected to be 12% protein, maybe a little higher, and at current basis levels, which will more than likely persist for a very long time, offer quite stiff price competition to USA HRW. Thus when Brazil finally starts buying her import needs later this winter, it is not a good assumption USA 12 pro winters will get that business.

And we all know that Black Sea wheat has become the price albatross hanging around the world wheat market’s neck. “Wheat, wheat everywhere and not a kernel to export”…is the cry of The Ancient North American Wheat Grower.

Kansas Wheat market update #180 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 07/24/15 pg. 3

Rediscover WHE AT | AUGUST 2015 41

Cash wheat bids are not enticing. Wheat sales will be made only to generate cash. Possibly prices improve IF Australia has trouble, but even that is a long shot right now, no matter how often we read about the developing El Nino.

Date 07/24 07/17 07/10 07/03 06/26 06/19 Date 07/24 07/17 07/10 07/03 06/26 06/19 BASIS 07/24 07/17 07/10 07/03 06/26 06/19 Date 07/24 07/17 07/10 07/03 06/26 06/19

Dodge $4.62 $5.02 $5.27 $5.52 $5.19 $4.63 Concordia $4.72 $5.12 $5.42 $5.72 $5.54 $4.83 Dodge -45 -45 -45 -40 -40 -40 Concordia -35 -35 -30 -20 -05 -20

Colby $4.62 $5.07 $5.32 $5.57 $5.36 $4.71 Salina $4.87-$4.89 $5.27-$5.29 $5.57-$5.57 $5.82-$5.92 $5.59-$5.69 $4.93 Colby -45 -40 -40 -35 -23 -32 Salina -20, -18 -20, -18 -15, -15 -10, +00 -00, +10 -10, -10

Goodland $4.64 $5.07 $5.35 $5.58 $5.37 $4.71 Hutchinson $4.74-$5.07 $5.16-$5.47 $5.48-$5.72 $5.63-$5.92 $5.47-$5.69 $4.84-$5.03 Goodland -43 -40 -37 -34 -22 -32 Hutchinson -33, +00 -31, +00 -24, +00 -29, +00 -12, +10 -19, -00

Protection $4.72 $5.17 $5.42 $5.57 $5.29 $4.73 Wichita $4.79-$5.02 $5.19-$5.42 $5.44-$5.67 $5.64-$5.87 $5.53-$5.69 $4.95-$5.08 Protection -35 -30 -30 -35 -30 -30 Wichita -28, -05 -28, -05 -28, -05 -28, -05 -06, +10 -08, +05

Scott City $4.57 $5.04 $5.33 $5.53 $5.24 $4.61 Ark City $4.78 $5.18 $5.43 $5.63 $5.40 $4.84 Scott City -50 -43 -39 -39 -35 -42 Ark City -29 -29 -29 -29 -19 -19

Sublette $4.62-$4.67 $5.07 $5.29-$5.32 $5.47-$5.52 $5.19-$5.21 $4.63-$4.65

Sublette -45, -40 -42, -40 -43, -40 -45, -40 -40, -38 -40, -38

Yuk. Cheaper futures AND basis weakness out west, as export pace lags noticeably.

Multi-year lows are coming, but that doesn’t mean big price rebounds quickly follow. The most likely scenario is low prices stick for most of this year, maybe longer, as deep down, I don’t think the crummy prices are low enough to force world wheat acreage to decline significantly.

The weekly futures table closed badly Friday, and so far…is not better. A 40c drop in KC, brings KC to a red font, signifying an 11 week closing low, and no funds will buy on that. The most bullish thing about Kansas Wheat market update #180 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 07/24/15 pg. 4 42

Rediscover WHE AT | AUGUST 2015

KC wheat is how much ground it has lost relative to Chicago wheat or corn. I suspect as the funds roll out of their long corn positions, KC wheat may benefit, but only on a relative basis.

CLOSE

KWU15

KWZ15

KWN16

CU15

CZ15

CN16

WU15

MWU15

MWZ15

SX15

07/24

$5.07

$5.27

$5.58

$3.93

$4.03

$4.23

$5.12

$5.45

$5.63

$9.65

07/17

$5.47

$5.66

$5.95

$4.20

$4.31

$4.51

$5.54

$5.75

$5.91

$10.07

07/10

$5.72

$5.92

$6.19

$4.35

$4.45

$4.63

$5.76

$6.08

$6.22

$10.22

07/02

$5.92

$6.11

$6.35

$4.29

$4.37

$4.56

$5.91

$6.24

$6.40

$10.30

06/26

$5.69

$5.89

$6.18

$3.93

$4.02

$4.24

$5.68

$6.09

$6.22

$9.86

06/19

$5.13

$5.32

$5.63

$3.59

$3.69

$3.94

$4.93

$5.54

$5.67

$9.40

06/12

$5.26

$5.53

$5.82

$3.59

$3.70

$3.95

$5.11

$5.70

$5.83

$9.04

06/05

$5.36

$5.63

$5.93

$3.68

$3.78

$4.03

$5.22

$5.82

$5.95

$9.14

05/29

$5.08

$5.25

$5.53

$3.57

$3.68

$3.91

$4.82

$5.42

$5.56

$9.06

05/22

$5.57

$5.74

$5.98

$3.67

$3.78

$4.02

$5.23

$5.80

$5.93

$9.07

05/15

$5.51

$5.68

$5.92

$3.73

$3.83

$4.07

$5.18

$5.73

$5.87

$9.35

05/08

$5.18

$5.35

$5.60

$3.69

$3.78

$4.04

$4.89

$5.53

$5.68

$9.52

This week’s weather is not scary…

MaltbyEnd-of-the-month Market Analysisfund is provided toto members of the Kansas Association Wheat Growers via action is weekly not going bring better wheat prices.

The Aussieof harvest is several email. months To become a KAWG member and subscribe, please contact Jordan Hildebrand at jhildebrand@ away… kswheat.com.

Kansas Wheat market update #180 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 07/24/15 pg. 5

Rediscover WHE AT | MAY 2015 43

@KansasWheat

KansasWheat AmericasBreadbasket

americasbread

Upcoming Events AUGUST 2015 • Caribbean Trade Team, August 18-20 • Drought Policy/Risk and Profit Conference, August 20-21, Dealing with Drought: The Effects and Economics of Drought in Agriculture

SEPTEMBER 2015 • Kansas State Fair, September 11-20