Rediscover Wheat March 2015

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

MARCH 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Equipping farmers to share their own stories U.S. Wheat Associates helps grow Peruvian market for Kansas hard red winter wheat Progress toward getting Kansas wheat back into Cuban market Outgoing NAWG President Paul Penner recalls his work on wheat Industry News

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 1

Volume 2 • Number 3 www.rediscoverwheat.org The official publication of

In This Issue : 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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

KAWG MEMBERSHIP $100 per year

EDITOR

Marsha Boswell • mboswell@kswheat.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Julia Debes • juliadebes@gmail.com Jordan Hildebrand • jhildebrand@kswheat.com

CEO

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 Scott Van Allen • Clearwater

10 12 14

16

17 18

VICE CHAIRMAN Jay Armstrong • Muscotah SECRETARY/TREASURER Brian Linin • Goodland IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Ron Suppes • Dighton

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.

2

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

Wheat Grower News: SB 178; Wheat Advocate Awards Everest and Danby are top planted varieties March is Bake and Take Month Recipe: Brown-and-Serve Wheat Rolls Wheat Foods Council responds to misinformation Equipping farmers to share their own stories Visualizing the answer: "Who will feed our hungry world?": National Geographic photographer shares insights at Women Managing the Farm Conference Touring the Grain Science Complex IGP Stakeholder News Progress toward getting Kansas wheat back into Cuban market Capitalizing on Quality : U.S. Wheat Associates helps grow Peruvian market for Kansas hard red winter wheat Recipe: Sunflower Chippers Made from Scratch: Outgoing NAWG President Paul Penner recalls his work on wheat

20 News from the National Association of Wheat Growers 25 News from U.S. Wheat Associates 34 Measure and manage to achieve high yielding wheat 36 Kansas growers sought for wheat yield contest 37 Maltby Market Analysis 44 Upcoming Events

KAWG Statement on Senate Bill 178 he Kansas Association of Wheat Growers strongly opposes Senate Bill 178. This bill would increase taxes paid by Kansas agricultural producers, especially wheat farmers. These proposals would have a significant and devastating impact on our state’s largest industry.

T

The proposed legislation would make drastic and sweeping changes to the Use Value taxation process.

For those unfamiliar with the formula and rationale of tax calculation, this may not seem like a big issue.

However, the proposal would result in a massive tax hike on the backs of our family farmers and ranchers in Kansas.

“KAWG policy adopted two years ago clearly opposes shifting tax burdens to ag producers either through removal of sales tax exemptions or through property tax changes,” said Justin Gilpin, CEO of Kansas Wheat. “We had good discussions about the bill at our February KAWG board meeting, and board members gave us clear direction that they are not supportive of this bill.”

Kansans honored with Wheat Advocate Awards he National Association of Wheat Growers presented three Kansans with Wheat Advocate Awards in January. The Wheat Advocate Award is given annually to Members of Congress who have demonstrated support for the wheat industry above and beyond the norm.

T

Senator Pat Roberts has been a long-time supporter of wheat farmers. As a senior member of the Senate Ag Committee, he has ensured that the federal farm safety net remains strong and that crop insurance continues to work for growers.

Roberts, the new chair of the Senate Ag Committe, as said that he looks forward to continuing his service to Kansas farmers and will continue to fight regulations that hinder Kansas agriculture.

During his tenure in Congress, Senator Jerry Moran has been a champion of issues that impact

Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, is presented his Wheat Advocate award by Gary Millershaski.

wheat farmers. As a member of the Senate Ag Approps subcommittee, he has had opportunities to highlight farm bill implementation concerns during appropriation hearings and advocate on behalf of wheat farmers. He has been a longstanding supporter of wheat-friendly food aid policies, and expanded trade to Cuba.

Congressman Mike Pompeo has led the charge in Washington D.C. for an industry-supported GMLabeling bill. The bill would create certainty for farmers, food companies and industry partners, limiting the confusion created by state ballot initiatives. The Congressman endured numerous attacks for his support of the bill, including during his re-election campaign.

Congratulations to these advocates for wheat! Kansas wheat farmers appreciate your continued efforts to support the wheat industry.

KAWG board members visited Sen. Jerry Moran to present him with his award. L to R: Ron Suppes, Ken Wood, Senator Jerry Moran and Mike Jordan.

Gary Millershaski (left) presents Mike Pompeo (right) with a Wheat Advocate Award.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 3

Everest and Danby are top planted varieties

by Marsha Boswell

ansas Wheat Alliance varieties continue to be the leading hard red winter and hard white wheat varieties planted in the state of Kansas. Both developed by Kansas State University, the top hard red winter wheat was Everest and the top hard white wheat was Danby.

This is according to the February 2015 "Kansas Wheat Varieties" report from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

K

Everest continued to be the leading variety of all wheat seeded in Kansas, accounting for 15.8 percent of the state’s 2015 planted wheat acres. Everest was the most popular variety in the eastern two thirds of the state.

Everest had solid field reports from eastern and central Kansas and Oklahoma in 2014. It remains the “go-to” variety for these areas. Its yield record in K-State tests was fairly average in 2014 and 2013, but very good in 2012. Everest may need to be sprayed for either stripe rust or tan spot.

In the absence of those leaf diseases, it has very few other weaknesses in central and eastern Kansas.

It will not get too lush when conditions are good early, so it stays within 4

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

itself when conditions turn hot and dry late in the season. It fills well under stress.

Hard white varieties accounted for 2.7 percent of the state’s acreage. Danby was, once again, the leading hard white variety, accounting for just less than 50 percent of the state’s white wheat.

The majority of the white wheat was planted in the southwestern portion of the state.

Danby has been a strong workhorse white wheat for many years. Danby has good sprouting tolerance. It has generally had a very good yield record, both in the K-State yield tests and in farmers’ fields. It has very good drought tolerance. It is susceptible to stripe rust and leaf rust, but those diseases can be controlled with fungicides. It has intermediate tolerance to wheat streak mosaic.

With its good sprouting tolerance,

Danby takes some of the risk out of growing white wheat.

TAM 111 retained its position as second overall in the state with 9.1 percent of the acreage and is the leading variety in all three of the western districts. T158 remained in third with 5.1 percent of the state’s acreage, whereas WB Cedar jumped four spots into fourth place with 4.9 percent of the acreage. TAM 112 dropped from fourth to fifth with 4.0 percent. Winter Hawk maintained its position at sixth with 3.8 percent. Armour fell from fifth to seventh place with 2.7 percent of the state’s acreage. Duster dropped one spot to eighth with 1.9 percent. Denali, also licensed in the state by Kansas Wheat Alliance, made its top ten debut in ninth with 1.8 percent. Endurance rounded up the top ten with 1.6 percent, maintaining its position from 2014.

Area planted with blended varieties was not included in the rankings by variety. Blends accounted for 9.6 percent of the state’s planted acreage and were used more extensively in the north central, east central and central areas of the state.

Kansas Wheat Commission, which provided funding for the Wheat Variety report, has been a long-time supporter of K-State's wheat breeding program. The wheat breeding program also receives generous funding for its efforts from Kansas Crop Improvement Association and Kansas Wheat Alliance. There is tremendous producer support in the state and region for K-State’s wheat varieties and breeding program.

The goal of the wheat breeding program is to develop and release new public hard winter varieties through the Kansas Wheat Alliance. Some germplasm lines are also released, in conjunction with the USDA wheat genetics program based on the K-State campus. The program focuses on the following traits: • High grain yield • Minor gene, durable resistance to leaf rust and stripe rust • Heat and drought tolerance • Resistance to Fusarium head scab, barley yellow dwarf, and Hessian fly • High quality for pan bread and noodle making Thanks to wheat breeding programs like the one at Kansas State University, producers have ever-improving options of wheat varieties to plant. Whether it’s improved resistance or increased yields, wheat breeders are creating varieties that meet producers’ changing needs.

March is Bake and Take Month

by Marsha Boswell

iving a home-baked gift is a great way to show someone you care. For more than 40 years, Bake and Take Month has been an opportunity to celebrate relationships with friends and family by baking and sharing treats.

G

“The purpose of Bake and Take Month is to encourage participants to bake a product made from wheat and take it to a neighbor, friend or relative,” said Cindy Falk, nutrition educator of Kansas Wheat.

“Bake and Take Month has a long tradition in Kansas as a promotion designed to educate consumers in the importance of home baking and wheat foods consumption,” Falk said. “The personal visit to members of the community is as rewarding and important as the baked goods you take them.”

Falk recommends trying Brown and Serve Rolls to share with friends and family for Bake and Take Month. For this recipe and more ideas for Bake and Take Month visit www.nationalfestivalofbreads.com or www.facebook.com/ AmericasBreadbasket.

Bake and Take Day began in 1970 as a community service project of the Kansas Wheathearts in Sumner County. The Kansas Wheathearts, an auxiliary organization of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, set out to share baked goods with family members, friends, neighbors, and those in need, generating goodwill in the community. The idea of a community member sharing a favorite recipe with someone special became so successful that the Kansas Wheathearts created a national Bake and Take Day celebration in 1973. Although the Kansas Wheathearts disbanded in 2001, the tradition continues to be supported by KWC and KAWG. Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 5

Brown-and-Serve Wheat Rolls Ingredients

3 cups white whole wheat flour 2 (¼ oz.) packages instant yeast ½ cup granulated sugar 2½ teaspoons salt 1½ cups 2% low-fat milk 1½ cups water ½ cup (1 stick) margarine or butter 2 large eggs, beaten 5½-6 cups bread flour, divided

1. In mixer bowl, mix white whole wheat flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt.

2. Heat milk, water and margarine to very warm (120°-130°F). Note: margarine or butter does not need to melt. For best results, check liquid temperature with a thermometer.

3. Add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at low speed, scraping bowl. Add eggs and 2 cups bread flour; beat 2 minutes, scraping bowl. Gradually mix in enough additional bread flour to make a soft dough.

4. Knead on lightly floured surface or with dough hook 10-12 minutes. Cover dough; let rest 10 minutes.

6

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

Directions

5. Shape dough as desired and place on greased or parchmentlined baking sheets or pans. Cover dough that is not being shaped so it does not dry out. Cover rolls; let rise in a warm (80°-90°F) place until doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes. To check if dough has doubled, press tip of finger lightly into side of roll. If indention remains, the dough has doubled in size.

7. Place rolls in sealable bags, label and date. Store in refrigerator up to 1 to 2 days or in freezer up to 1 month.

6. Preheat oven to 300°F. Bake rolls 20-25 minutes, or until rolls are set and they are just starting to change color. Cool rolls in pans or on baking sheets 10 minutes.

Remove rolls to wire rack; cool completely.

Makes 48 rolls.

8. To brown and serve: If frozen, defrost rolls at room temperature, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place rolls on cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Nutrition Information One cookie provides: 70 calories, 1 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, .3 g dietary fiber, 4 g fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 4 mg calcium, 29 mg potassium and 9 mg sodium.

Wheat Foods Council responds to misinformation he Wheat Foods Council responds to inaccurate information in the media on a regular basis.

Following is a letter from Judi Adams, WFC president, in response to a Southwest Airlines Magazine article.

T

I commend your efforts to help people be healthier but the January 2015 Health Promotional Series in your magazine contained some erroneous and potentially dangerous information about gluten.

As a registered dietitian with an older brother who has celiac disease (CD), I am very knowledgeable about the disease and its treatment. Kalli Castille, director of nutritional support and culinary at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa, gave very inaccurate information. I was pleased to see she is an RD, but her specialty does not appear to be celiac disease/gluten.

1. She stated 6% of the population are “sensitive” to gluten. That number came from a study of people who went to the Maryland Celiac Research Center (which is now in Boston) because they thought they had celiac disease – this is NOT representative of the U.S. population as a whole. Dr. Stephano Guandalini at the Chicago Celiac Research Center believes there are about 0.5% of Americans sensitive to gluten – even less than those who have CD. 2. There is currently NO reliable test for gluten sensitivity – only for CD. And a gut biopsy is always necessary to confirm CD after a blood test shows antibodies.

3. Anyone who thinks they might be sensitive to gluten or have CD should NEVER go gluten free “to try it.” To properly diagnose CD, one must be eating gluten for a minimum of three weeks (some say three months) to get an accurate diagnosis.

4. There is not a single, published study that shows “going gluten-free” is a weight loss diet. IF one cuts gluten out of their diet and does NOT replace it, they will be consuming less calories so will probably lose weight.

However, IF they replace gluten-containing foods with their gluten-free counterparts, they will most likely gain weight because the processed replacements are almost always higher in fat and sugar to supply texture and taste.

5. Gluten-free diets are almost always short in fiber (average 6 g/day, even lower than the 16 g the average American consumes vs the recommended 25 g for women and 38 g for men). I am sure you are well aware of the increased risks of low fiber diets: some diseases, adenocarcinoma, poor gut health (since gluten is a prebiotic) and of course, constipation.

Those on gluten-free diets are often short in B vitamins, folic acid and iron. Many of the replacements are not whole grains and are not enriched/fortified with those nutrients. When those with CD consume non-glutencontaining whole grains such as corn, sorghum, brown rice and pseudo-grains such as amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat and wild rice, they consume more of these nutrients.

6. Ms. Castille also fails to mention the most recent research which shows that most people who think they are sensitive to gluten are really sensitive to FODMAPS – fermentable, oligo-, di- and mono-saccharides and polyols. Since several grains, including wheat, do contain a FODMAP, as do numerous fruits, vegetables and dairy, an elimination diet is the only currently-known treatment.

In the future, when giving nutrition information, it would be wise to contact an RD who specializes in your particular issue. For gluten, there are numerous dietitians who are members of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics sub-practice group, DIGID (Dietitians in Gluten Intolerance Diseases). I have attached an article we circulated to the media which quotes three of the world’s most renowned celiac disease researchers and three of the most knowledgeable dietitians on the subject.

Someone who truly has celiac disease and is not diagnosed will endure endless, unnecessary years of illness and often death. Please help the health care professionals who try to prevent this by publishing accurate information.

Sincerely, Judi Adams, MS, RDN; Member of DIGID, President

Kansas wheat farmers support the Wheat Foods Council through the two-penny wheat assessment.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 7

Equipping farmers to share their own stories

by Marsha Boswell

armers need to tell their own story about how they produce food on their farms. This is one of the messages that Judi Adams, president of the Wheat Foods Council, shared with participants at the Women Managing the Farm Conference in Manhattan, Kansas, on February 5.

F

“It’s really important that farmers get out in front of the public and tell them what they do and how they raise their crops. And, that they’re people just like the rest of us, and they have children and grandchildren and they’re not going to do anything that’s going to hurt anybody’s health,” Adams said. “They’re growing wonderful, healthy products and they need to be telling people that, because there so much suspicion about our food supply in the United States, and we know it’s the best food in the entire world and probably the cheapest in the entire world and we forget to be thankful for it.

Adams continued, “I think it’s only in America and some of the more developed countries in Europe that

can actually be picky about the food they eat. Most of the world is just happy to get food and happy to get calories, so farmers need to be telling their own story.”

Adams shared nutrition information with the 250 women ag producers in the audience. By giving sound, scientific information, Adams equipped the attendees with the knowledge they need to address concerns about the nutritional benefits of the foods they produce and the safety of food production.

Specifically, she spoke about the nutritional benefits of grains, including wheat.

“Wheat has been proven throughout research for years that it’s an anti-inflammatory, so it’s good for our body that way. People who eat a lot of whole grains, including whole wheat, have less risk of heart disease and diabetes. It’s been proven through research that it’s very healthy,” said Adams.

“Now, you hear a lot of anecdotal things that wheat’s not healthy, and that’s exactly what they are -- they’re anecdotal. They’re not research, and people need to start looking at the science when they talk and hear about grains, because grains are very good for them.

We’re not eating enough whole grains, and we should be eating more.”

The Women Managing the Farm conference is held annually. In an industry traditionally dominated by men, women have a strong and growing presence in U.S. agriculture. In fact, more and more women are choosing to own and manage their own farms. At the 2015 Women Managing the Farm Conference, the ultimate goal was to provide women with the tools they need to remain sustainable.

Judi Adams, president of the Wheat Foods Council, presented at the 2015 Women Managing the Farm Conference. She shared sound, scientific nutrition information with the 250 women ag producers in the audience, to equip them with the knowledge they need to address concerns about the nutritional benefits of the foods they produce and the safety of food production.

8

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

Attendees also had the opportunity to tour the KSU Grain Science complex on February 4 and share joint sessions with the Kansas Commodity Classic on February 6.

They also enjoyed general session presentations from Jim Richardson, freelance photographer, Jackie McClaskey, Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, and Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh, K-State professor emeritus, department of agricultural economics.

Visualizing the answer: “Who will feed our hungry world?”

National Geographic photographer shares insights at Women Managing the Farm Conference story by Julia Debes wheat harvest photo by Jim Richardson igging holes in the ground may not be the average person’s idea of empowerment, but National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson did just that in order to illustrate the variance and importance of soil profiles and farmers around the world.

Richardson shared his insights from that project and more than 20 years of researching and capturing agriculture’s stories with participants at the 2015 Women Managing the Farm Conference.

D

Richardson is a Kansas native, growing up on a dairy in Republic County. He recalled feeding bucket calves and watching his mother crochet while milking cows.

From these humble beginnings, he built a distinguished career with National Geographic, most recently helping photograph and research The Future of Food series.

Richardson recounted photographing the ancient agricultural world at ruins and modern production from the slopes of Peru to the soybean fields of Iowa. He shared his images of the rolling fields in the Palouse to wheat harvest in his home state.

“I cannot tell you how to farm,” Richardson said. “But, I have traveled the world and I can show you what farms look like.”

With the global population expected to reach nine billion people by 2050, he said the most important question is how agriculture can double production to produce the food needed to feed that many mouths. To answer that question, Richardson said that it requires perspective and focus on elements like soil, seeds, farms and farmers.

Richardson said that the large farms typical of the United States are atypical on a global scale, where 50 percent of farmers farm on less than five acres of land.

Similarly, much of agricultural work is still done by hand – the same way it has been done for thousands of years.

“The amazing thing is the transformation of the planet,” Richardson said. “Most of that was done by hand.”

His said his work capturing soil profiles and farmers highlights how farmers must be partners with their crops and livestock, lest

more land fall victim to the soil erosion that has devastated ancient areas of productivity like Aleppo in Syria and the Loess Plateau in China. In contrast, Richardson also showed the hard work of modern farmers to conserve and restore soil in countries like Niger.

Richardson also highlighted the importance of preserving seed diversity to meeting current and future agricultural challenges.

To do so, he shared images of seed banks in the Arctic Circle to Fort Collins, Colorado, even highlighting the work of Dr. Bikram Gill and the Wheat Genetics Resource Center (housed at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center).

“If a global catastrophe would happen, this would be the backup,” he said. “It is essential to have all this diversity because you never know when something like Ug99 is going to come around and threaten the world’s supply.”

Above all, Richardson said the farmer is “the glue that holds it all together” and thanked the audience for their efforts to help preserve, protect and improve their shared planet – on the farm and off.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 9

Touring the Grain Science Complex

by Julia Debes

raving the snow on their way to Manhattan, Kansas, participants in the 2015 Women Managing the Farm Conference toured the Grain Science Complex on the north campus of Kansas State University. The six buildings – the IGP Institute, BIVAP, feed mill, flour mill, wheat innovation center and crop improvement association – cover 16 acres. Each has a long history of innovation that has benefited Kansas farmers as well as customers around the world.

In 2014, the IGP Institute conducted 62 courses (33 onsite, 29 distance) with 1,687 participants from 45 countries.

IGP Institute

Dr. Sajid Alavi, supervisor of the BIVAP extrusion lab, explained that the partnership with industry benefits both parties as the industry is looking for a short term turnaround (about three months) in contrast to the university’s long term outlook (more than three years).

B

The IGP Institute was founded in 1978 by the Kansas legislature to help increase the “preference, consumption and utilization” of U.S. grains and oilseeds.

IGP moved to the grain science complex in 2004 and the executive conference center was constructed entirely using producer funds., including from the Kansas Wheat Commission.

IGP faculty and staff instruct hundreds of participants a year through both a standard roster of courses in flour milling, feed manufacturing and grain marketing as well as specialized courses on a variety of topics and even some in Spanish.

“We are the research and extension arm to the grain science industry,” said Lisa Long, IGP Institute event coordinator.

10

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

Bioprocessing and Industrial Value Added Program The Bioprocessing and Industrial Value Added Program (BIVAP) includes laboratories working on bioprocessing, bioplastics and extrusion. Researchers both teach at the university as well as conduct proprietary testing for private industry.

“It helps to keep us in touch and not sitting behind a desk doing obscure research,” Alavi said.

For food and feed products, extrusion is an efficient, high temperature cooking system that forms material into shapes. In other words, extrusion is used to manufacture products like pet food, Cheeto-like snack foods, breakfast cereals and pasta. At BIVAP, researchers work on the texture and shapes of these products, leaving decisions like flavors for other scientists.

This one-of-a-kind pilot scale lab helps create and produce some very interesting projects, including the food that NASA feeds to its experimental rats – both planetside and in outer space. They have also produced monkey treats for the San Diego Zoo and manatee feed for the University of Florida’s manatee rescue program.

O. H. Kruse Feed Technology Innovation Center The O.H. Kruse Feed Technology Innovation Center is a feed research, teaching and production facility. The state-of-the-art facility is fully automated, with all but three machines operated by a central computer. Additionally, K-State is the only program in the country to offer feed science as a major, making the feed mill a unique opportunity to gain handson experience.

The feed manufacturing mill produces all the feed fed to the animals at K-State research units as well as conducting experiments.

Researchers also work on specialty projects, including on project that formulated 30 different diets for fish in Hawaii, including using macadamia nuts. The mill can also produce fish food that will float at different depths to feed bottom feeders, top feeders and everything in between.

Kansas Wheat Innovation Center The Kansas Wheat Innovation Center (KWIC) includes 35,000 square feet of office and research space. The building includes the Syngenta “Speak for Wheat” test kitchen, Heartland Plant Innovations, the Kansas Foundation for Ag in the Classroom, Kansas Wheat offices as well as an advanced breeding laboratory, indoor growth rooms and greenhouses. Additionally, the Wheat Genetics Resource Center is housed at the KWIC and maintains a gene bank of more than 2,500 wheat species accessions.

The indoor, climate-controlled indoor growth rooms allow scientists to grow wheat and conduct experiments year round. Researchers are also able to vernalize winter wheat experiments in the vernalization and tissue culture rooms.

The KWIC includes the only air-conditioned greenhouse in Manhattan, which allows researchers to continue their work during hot summer months.

Hal Ross Flour Mill The Hal Ross Flour Mill is a pilot-scale flour. The 22,000 square foot, five-story slipform concrete structure, completed in 2006, contains the same equipment and control systems students will use in their careers.

K-State is also the only university in the United States to offer courses in milling science.

The mill allows students not only to learn how to operate a flour mill, but the instructors also can purposefully introduce problems that the students must learn to troubleshoot. Fun fact, the flour produced by the mill is used by K-State’s baking science students for their weekly bake sale at Shellenberger Hall.

Kansas Crop Improvement Association The Kansas Crop Improvement Association is a not-for-profit corporation that is the designated authority for certifying seed in Kansas. Their building outdates the others on the Grain Science Complex, having been built in 1986.

The Kansas Crop Improvement Association has three primary functions: ensuring labels for certified seeds are accurate, verifying that the seed meets certification standards as well as some regulatory testing. Executive director Steve Schuler explained that certified seed is like consumer protection for farmers, ensuring that the kernels they plant have the maximum germination rate possible as well as meeting stringent quality standards.

A state can set higher standards for grain than the federal minimum standards, and that is exactly what the members of the Kansas Crop Improvement Association are doing. For example, certified seed growers must submit a 10 pound sample for analysis for every 5,000 acres produced. In comparison, neighboring states only require a single 1.5 pound sample, no matter the acres planted. This provides a better representation of the certified seed fields as well as superior detection of inert matter, other crop seeds and wheat seeds.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 11

February 2015

STAKEHOLDER NEWS BRIEF Moving the Mission After a whirlwind February, it is apparent to me that the learning curve is steep and the familiarization process will continue for quite some time.

My initial impression of the IGP Institute and the Department Gordon Smith of Grain Science and Industry is that these are special places, full of dedicated professionals, truly committed to investing in the future of our state, country and world. As technology evolves, traditional boundaries of distance, culture, economics and accessibility soften allowing our education and outreach missions to have even greater impact.

Knowledge and self -improvement are becoming key enablers that allow individuals and businesses to reach their optimum potential. To this end, the IGP Institute appears uniquely suited to provide meaningful training through innovative approaches across an expanding range of critical offerings.

In the Spotlight

Gordon Smith IGP Institute Director

Courses and activities held in February • AFIA 500 – Fundamentals of Feed Manufacturing

• Completed two flour milling distance courses and enrolled in a third training “I have learned a lot about quality control from cleaning the wheat to creating a better overall product.”

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

Sincerely,

Trainings and Activities

Derek Marcotte • Miller with Prairie Flour Mills, Elie, Manitoba, Canada

12

As my indoctrination into the IGP Institute and its mission continues, I look forward to meeting many of you and continuing the dialog around how every part of the enterprise can drive market preference, consumption and utilization of U.S. cereal grains and oilseeds. It is indeed my honor to be a part of this team and our commitment to continual improvement in all that we do.

I welcome your input and I can be reached at glsmith@ ksu.edu and 785-532-3503.

• GEAPS 521 – Aeration Systems Design and Fan Operational Management • GEAPS 530 – Quality Management Systems • GEAPS 542 – Electrical Safety • GEAPS 544 – Preventing Grain Dust Explosions • GEAPS 600 – Overview of Milling Principles

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

The IGP Institute sent several faculty and staff members to the 2015 GEAPS Exchange in St. Louis, Missouri at the end of Februrary. The Exchange is an industry tradeshow for GEAPS members and features exhibitors and planning meetings for future distance education courses.

Where in the World

Marketing the Brand

A monthly look at where we’ve been as we make our way around the globe promoting U.S. commodities and IGP Institute training opportunities.

by Lisa Moser, Marketing and Communications Coordinator • Generated pre-course publicity for May and June courses.

• Traveled to Guatemala to work on the PHL Innovation Lab project.

• Traveled to Costa Rica to attend the International Marketing Conference and 55th Annual Membership Meeting.

• Developed promotions for the International Grain Quality and Food Security Conference.

• Began visioning promotional videos for IGP Institute YouTube channel.

• Participated in the Kansas Commodity Classic, Manhattan, Kansas.

• Attended the GEAPS Exchange in St. Louis, Missouri.

• Attended the Commodity Classic in Phoenix, Arizona.

• Presented at the USSEC EU and the MENA Conference in Rome.

The brochure created to distribute the IGP Institute Conference Center rental information.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 13

Progress toward getting Kansas More than 75 agribusiness, commodity, state government leaders to visit Cuba U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba renews call for end to embargo

he U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC) announced February 19 it will lead more than 75 leaders from across the U.S. agriculture industry on a learning journey to Cuba. The visit will take place March 1-4, 2015.

T

“As we continue our call for Congress to end the embargo and normalize trade with Cuba, this is an appropriate time to visit Cuba and begin to strengthen business relationships,” said Devry Boughner Vorwerk, Chair of USACC. “We have seen positive developments in recent weeks, including the Freedom to Export to Cuba Act that would end the embargo in an appropriate and expeditious way.

Our learning journey will ensure that key commodity groups and agribusiness leaders are well-positioned to facilitate a strong bilateral trading relationship when the embargo is lifted.”

The learning journey will include meetings with Cuban business and government leaders, as well as interaction with Cuban farmers and agricultural cooperatives to expand understanding of the Cuban agricultural economy.

14

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

“The March learning journey will provide an opportunity for leaders in our agriculture sector to interact with key Cuban leaders, including farmers and agricultural cooperatives, in advance of normalized trade relations,” said Paul Johnson, Vice Chair of USACC. “Meanwhile our hope is for Congress to normalize trade relations with Cuba as quickly as possible.”

USACC is comprised of agribusinesses, commodity groups, and others in agriculture who share a commitment to normalizing trade with Cuba and ending the current embargo. The coalition was formed in early 2014 to call for an end to the current embargo, which would continue the tremendous momentum of U.S. agricultural exports and boost opportunity for U.S. and Cuban agriculture. National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates are members of the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba.

Kansas wheat farmer Doug Keesling, Chase, Kansas, will be traveling on the learning journey.

wheat back into Cuban market Senators move forward with bill to end Cuban embargo

ollowing is a joint statement from the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW).

F

On February 12, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced major legislation that would end the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba.

The bill would end the restrictions on U.S. companies doing business in Cuba that have been in place since 1961. Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Patrick Leahy (DVT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) co-sponsored the bill.

NAWG and USW are pleased to see bipartisan Congressional progress being made, and look toward a speedy and permanent end to the Cuban trade embargo. NAWG and USW are members of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, which also endorsed the legislation.

“It is refreshing to see our nation’s lawmakers reaching across the aisle to produce real and meaningful change.

Increased trade with Cuba has great potential for U.S. wheat growers,” commented NAWG president Paul Penner.

Cuba’s 11 million people consume close to one million metric tons of wheat each year. It is the largest wheat market in the Caribbean, but it currently purchases almost all of that wheat from the European Union and Canada. Cuba could import at least 500,000 metric tons of wheat from the United States each year but has not purchased U.S. wheat since 2011. Under the current embargo, the United States can export agricultural products to Cuba through the use of third-party banking institutions, which makes facilitating trade burdensome and often more expensive.

“The farmer directors of NAWG and USW recently renewed a call to end the Cuban trade embargo,” said USW President Alan Tracy. “We support the bipartisan effort in the Senate that moves us one step closer to seeing U.S. wheat flowing to our Cuban neighbors again.”

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 15

Capitalizing on Quality U.S. Wheat Associates helps grow Peruvian market for Kansas hard red winter wheat

by Julia Debes

he consistent high quality of hard red winter (HRW) wheat allows Kansas wheat farmers to maintain market share in countries like Peru, where competition for imports is fierce and opportunities to expand are abundant.

T

Competing for Market Share Peru, the third largest country in South America, produces only a small amount of wheat on isolated mountain tops. This wheat is consumed locally, meaning that Peru’s 14 milling companies are nearly 100 percent dependent on imported supplies.

In the 1970s, the Peruvian government mandated that only HRW be imported, giving millers “a habit and a convenience in grinding HRW,” according to Osvaldo Seco, assistant regional director for the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) South American region, based in Santiago, Chile. “Many mill owners, wheat buyers, production managers and millers have traveled to Kansas to learn more about HRW.” As a result, Peru is the second largest importer of U.S. wheat in South America, averaging a 32 percent market share during the last 10 years. Of that, 80 to 90 percent is HRW imports from the Gulf of Mexico, equaling 16

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

the fifth largest overseas market for HRW at an average of 20.1 million bushels (547,000 metric tons). However, Seco explained that Kansas wheat farmers battle for market share with traditional competitors Canada and Argentina as well as Russia, Ukraine and Mexico.

“Buyers are very price sensitive and wheat imports shift based on availability, price and quality,” Seco said. “Still, Peru has always bought HRW because millers and bakers highly appreciate its consistent quality and high adaptability to any product.”

Shift in Bread Favors U.S. HRW Most important to Kansas wheat farmers, 58 percent of total wheat imports are used for bread products. Here, innovation rather than tradition provides more opportunities for expanding sales.

Traditionally, most bread in Peru is sold at small, neighborhood bakeries.

Unfortunately, this bread is sold on a piece basis rather than weight, favoring very light, low quality bread. Additionally, as these bakers compete on price, they tend to use more additives to increase bread volume. In turn, the poor production methods affect taste, which hinders increases in per capita bread consumption.

However, supermarket bakeries are growing in number and popularity. These bakeries use better production methods and sell their loaves by weight – leading to additional opportunities for sales of high quality U.S. HRW wheat. Alicorp, the largest milling company in Peru, has even signed an agreement with Bimbo, the world’s largest bakery chain, to undertake a joint venture to produce industrial pan breads.

“In recent years, sales of bread through supermarkets have greatly increased, and now represent 20 percent of sales,” Seco said. “USW sees an opportunity to stimulate an increase in consumption by working with these supermarkets; helping them improve ever more the quality of their bread and work with them to produce new bread products.”

As the wheat industry’s export market development partner, USW will help ensure that Peruvian millers and bakers know where they can find the wheat they need to expand their businesses. That means Kansas wheat farmers can concentrate on what they do best – producing the world’s most reliable source of high quality wheat.

Sunflower Chippers Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup shortening 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup sunflower oil 1 egg 1/2 cup dry roasted sunflower seeds (shelled) 1/2 cup chocolate chips 2 tablespoons whole sunflower seeds (shelled)

Directions 1. In medium bowl sift flour with cream of tartar and soda; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat shortening, sugars and oil until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat 3 minutes. Stir in flour and sunflower seeds until well combined.

3. Shape into 1-inch balls.

Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Decorate with a chocolate chip in the center and five whole sunflower seeds fashioned in a spoke pattern.

4. Bake in a 350 degrees F oven 12 to 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to wire rack and cool. Makes 60 cookies.

Nutrition Information Makes 60 cookies.

One cookie provides: 70 calories, 1 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, .3 g dietary fiber, 4 g fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 4 mg calcium, 29 mg potassium and 9 mg sodium.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 17

Made from Scratch

Outgoing NAWG President Paul Penner recalls his work on wheat

by Julia Debes

ansas wheat farmer Paul Penner is equally likely to share updates from Capitol Hill or pictures of his grandkids. While Penner retires as President of the National Association of Wheat Growers following the 2015 Commodity Classic, he has served as a strong advocate for Kansas farmers during his tenure as both a state and national officer.

K

“Three words come to mind when I think of Paul: thoughtful, sincere and articulate,” said Michael Jordan, president of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, from Beloit.

“I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with him for more than a decade and appreciate his efforts.”

Starting from Scratch Penner and his wife Deborah started farming in the late 1970s, but did not inherit or buy into an existing operation. Today, Penner farms 1,000 acres of his own ground and custom farms another 1,500 to 2,000 acres for other small area farmers in Marion and Dickinson counties. The diversified operation is mostly no-till and includes wheat, corn, soybeans and hay, in addition to an occasional rotation of sorghum.

Penner started attending local Kansas Association of Wheat Growers (KAWG) meetings in the mid1980s. One particular meeting in Great Bend piqued his interest in getting more involved in the organization.

“I raised my hand and asked if I could contribute and they said sure,” he said, adding that after the meeting was over, the chair asked if Penner would be interested in filling an unexpired term.

18

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

He did and eventually worked his way up to running for the officer team. Penner said he lost the first election by one vote to an opponent who shared his campaign slogan, “I’m not the best choice; the other guy is.”

He ran unopposed the next year and became a KAWG officer. Penner was actively involved in the effort to create Heartland Plant Innovations, the forprofit company developed by Kansas wheat farmers to provide advanced plant breeding services for wheat and other crops, now specializing in doubled haploids.

“I was on the ground floor when the company started,” he said. “It will continue to bring tears to my eyes when I think about it.”

After thoughtful discussions with his wife and other wheat industry leaders, Penner decided to jump to serving on the NAWG board and then running for the officer team. He was elected Secretary-Treasurer in 2011 and subsequently served as Second Vice President and First Vice President before being elected as President in 2014.

Broadening His Wheat Horizons Penner said that serving as an officer in the national wheat organization is time consuming, but the lessons learned from working with wheat farmers in 22 states is worth it.

“It is amazing the amount of knowledge you can acquire if you are observant,” he said. “It really broadens your horizons.”

Beyond personal lessons, Penner said he appreciates the impact that grassroots action can have on policy.

For example, he proudly recalled helping advocate on Capitol Hill for the farm disaster aid package passed in 2006.

Looking Forward When asked about what his plans are after turning over the gavel, Penner simply replied, “Visiting grandkids.”

He has three, and he promises that they are not short of their own ag education.

“They are not going to be naïve about where their food comes from. I want to instill all of this love of agriculture and food in them. I hope it is infectious,” he proclaimed. “Even if they do not become farmers, I want them to be aware of all the tremendous opportunities to work in the food industry.”

Echoing his agvocacy in his own family, Penner called for the next generation of wheat industry leaders to make consumer education the next top priority for agriculture.

“As I move into the sunset of my tenure as a NAWG officer, the future is challenging and encouraging,” he said. “We are going to have to find ways to relate agriculture to people who are generations removed from the farm and communicate that farmers are stewards of their land and take their job seriously.”

Just a year after Hurricane Katrina, Penner said the farm community was working on a $4 billion aid package for farmers hit hard by a years-long drought. He remembered the White House called it inflationary, and Congress had just passed relief aid for those affected by the hurricane. Still, Penner said that once the Congress learned from farmers about the impact it was having on their livelihoods, they were able to get the legislation passed.

“It was a big struggle to get that through,” he said.

“It really brought a lot of farmers together.”

That unification means even more for the wheat community. Penner said that working for the national wheat industry can be more challenging than for other commodities as wheat is grown across the country and each wheat class and growing region has its own issues and concerns.

“The wheat industry is more fractured than other commodities,” he said. “To get all six classes unified on an issue is a remarkable feat by itself.”

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 19

News from : NAWG Weekly Updates February 5, 2015 NAWG Joins Fellow Ag Groups in Letter to Congress Regarding Proposed Crop Insurance Cuts The National Association of Wheat Growers signed a letter to the House and Senate Budget Committees Chairs and Ranking Members, voicing concerns over the President’s proposed budget cuts to some elements of crop insurance. The group of more than 30 concerned agricultural organizations, representing the spectrum of crops, seeks to highlight the importance of the crop insurance provision of the Farm Bill and to illustrate that affordable and consistent crop insurance can save consumers money and help farmers recover from weather disasters.

Here’s an excerpt: “The agriculture community is committed to the belief that balancing the Federal budget is important, which is why the industry supported the passage just last year of a farm bill that was estimated to reduce the deficit by $16.6 billion. Additionally, crop insurance has been contributing 20

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

more than $1.2 billion a year towards reducing government spending since the 2008 Farm Bill.

after the direct payment method was eliminated in the most recent Farm Bill debate.

“Therefore, we strongly oppose the President’s budget proposal to make crippling cuts to crop insurance. Attacking farmers’ most important risk management tool only weakens the farm safety net in the bipartisan Farm Bill that Congress carefully crafted after years of deliberation and more than 40 hearings.

Congressional Agriculture Committee leaders have already voiced their opposition to the proposed crop insurance changes. Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee Pat Roberts of Kansas spoke out against the budget, saying that it turns a deaf ear to our nation’s farmers and ranchers by directly cutting the very tool that helps growers produce a safe and affordable food supply year after year. The administration states that its plan would save taxpayers nearly $16 billion over 10 years, including $1.1 billion in fiscal 2016. Crop insurance is an important tool that enables farmers to better manage risk, and allows them to more easily recover from unforeseen occurrences, such as damaging weather.

Read the entire letter at http://www.wheatworld. org/uncategorized/2015/02/ nawgcoalition-letter-opposingproposed-decrease-in-cropinsurance-budget/.

President’ s Proposed Budget Slashes Crop Insurance President Barack Obama released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2016. In addition to the creation of a single, monolithic food inspection agency and cuts to some conservation programs, the budget suggests a 10 percent cut to premium subsidies for harvest-price policies. This marks the third presidential budget in as many years to include a cut to the program, and comes just one year

The Word On Wheat: Do you know where your food comes from?

With most consumers removed from the farm by more than a generation, often there is a disconnect between agriculture

and the food we consume.

The Washington Post tested consumers’ knowledge with a quiz that asked readers to guess the agriculture commodity represented based on a map image of where the food is grown. One of the maps represented wheat production.

National Wheat Foundation shared the article and explored the topic further on the Word on Wheat blog, highlighting the importance of understanding where food comes from. The idea of “Act Local, Think Global” was expanded to emphasize the abundance of food grown in the U.S. and recognize that some food items may travel further to the grocery store shelves based on seasonality and other factors.

Using the example of wheat, the blog states, “In the U.S., 42 out of 50 states grow wheat, and approximately 50 percent of that wheat remains stateside for use in food products. Not to mention, U.S. wheat farmers produce all six classes of wheat across the country. We are the only country that can offer all types of wheat to customers at home and abroad.”

The full blog can be read at http://wheatfoundation.org/actlocal-think-global-understandingwhere-our-food-comes-from/.

Follow the conversation online!

• Twitter: @NationalWheat • Facebook: National Wheat Foundation • Word on Wheat blog: wheatfoundation.org/blog NAWG Trade Committee Meets The NAWG Domestic Trade Policy Committee met during NAWG’s Winter Wheat

Conference in Washington, D.C., to discuss a wide array of policy issues currently affecting America’s wheat industry. Topics included crop insurance, free trade agreements and Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) reauthorization.

the 4Rs nutrient stewardship program. The committee also heard from the Senate Agriculture Committee staff regarding the committee’s work over the year and heard updates from several states on pending issues within their state.

Guest speakers were Robert Ibarra, deputy administrator for insurance services, USDA, RMA to discuss farm bill implementation; Jared Hill, director of legislative affairs, National Grain and Feed Association, to discuss FGIS reauthorization; and Devry Boughner Vorwerk, director of international business relations, Cargill, to discuss the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba.

Waters of the U.S. Highlighted in Hearing

The committee passed a motion instructing NAWG staff to move forward in constructing a Wheat Caucus for Members of Congress to more effectively work on legislation to benefit wheat farmers. The Domestic Trade Policy Committee met again at Commodity Classic.

NAWG Environment Committee Meets The Environment and Renewable Resources Committee met to discuss several environmental policy issues impacting wheat growers.

The committee heard from the Environmental Protection Agency on the proposed ground-level ozone regulation as well as American Farm Bureau Federation regarding the regulation. The Fertilizer Institute reviewed its 4Rs program, recommending that NAWG become a partner of

A rare bicameral hearing on Waters of the U.S. was held by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy testified. The committees also heard from state officials regarding the impact of the regulation on state and local governments. A final Waters of the U.S. regulation is expected to be released in the spring. The Chairs of the House and Senate committees issued a statement following the hearing calling for EPA to withdraw the regulation.

In related action, EPA and the Army Corps withdrew the controversial Interpretive Rule that identified specific Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation practice standards that would be exempt from permitting under a normal farming practice exemption of the Clean Water Act. NAWG supported Congressional efforts to withdraw the Interpretive Rule due to concerns that it limited what would be considered a normal farming practice.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 21

February 12, 2015 Determined to Prevent Export Slowdowns at U.S. Ports, NAWG Signs Coalition Letter Over the last year, the American agriculture industry has been plagued by multiple slowdowns at our nation’s ports, from which the food supply chain delivers high quality nutritious food to every corner of the globe. Currently, our industry is facing another blow to our supply chain caused by a slowdown in terminal activity at five West Coast ports throughout California due to a labor dispute.

The National Association of Wheat Growers, along with more than 90 other concerned commodity groups, signed a letter urging the two factions to work together to resolve the conflict and calling on the federal government to consider all options for bringing the dispute to an end. The letter warns of the potential loss our producers and consumers could face should the dispute continue: “Inevitably, these overseas customers will look to other sources for their supply of these goods. Additionally, the dispute is affecting imports from counter-seasonal production areas important for serving U.S. consumers.”

The coalition letter can be viewed at http://www.wheatworld. org/?attachment_id=7595.

NAWG Submits Comments on EQIP Regulation NAWG submitted comments on the Interim Final Rule for USDA Natural Resources Conservation

22

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The 2014 Farm Bill consolidated the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program into EQIP in an effort to eliminate duplicative programs.

NAWG encouraged NRCS to work cooperatively with wheat growers when implementing the program and to ensure that growers are not required to undertake a comprehensive conservation plan in order to participate in EQIP. A copy of NAWG’s comments can be found at http://www. wheatworld.org/?attachment_ id=7597.

NAWG Supports Tax Section 179 This week, NAWG signed onto two letters in support of making Section 179 small business expensing permanent at $500,000.

A group of 34 agriculture-related groups sent Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi a letter encouraging the U.S. House of Representatives to approve vital legislation that would provide wheat growers and other producers with the necessary tools to make informed business decisions to continue their successful operations. The groups emphasized the importance of Section 179 to agriculture producers during positive cash flow years. The letter stated that not passing the legislation places “additional burdens on farm and ranch families who are assetrich and cash poor and already face an unpredictable tax code that encourages the breakup of multigenerational farm and ranch operations.”

NAWG also signed onto a multiindustry letter in support of H.R. 636 to two of the bill’s sponsors Representatives Tiberi and Kind. The proposed legislation – America’s Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2015 – would make permanent Section 179 at the $500,000 level. This letter enforces the bill’s importance to all small businesses, especially during positive cash flow years, and also notes “high tax compliance costs consistently rank as a top concern for small business owners, and act as a drag on investment, growth and innovation.” For NAWG and many others, passage of this bill will increase investment and jobs, reduce complexity and paperwork and alleviate uncertainty.

2015 Farm Income at Six-Year Low, Estimates USDA The U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its forecast for the 2015 net farm income to $73.6 billion, a 32 percent drop from a 2014 forecast of $108 billion for this year’s income.

The 2015 forecast would be the lowest since 2009 and a drop of nearly 43 percent from the record high of $129 billion in 2013. Lower crop and livestock prices are the main drivers of the drop. The rate of growth in farm assets is forecast to slow in 2015 compared to recent years. The slowdown in growth is a result of lower net income leading to less capital investment and a slight decline in farmland values. Read the full report at http://www.ers. usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/ farm-sector-income-finances/ highlights-from-the-2015-farmincome-forecast.aspx.

The Word on Wheat: Wheat "Hearts" American Heart Month

February is American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States.

The National Wheat Foundation reminds us that we can keep our heart healthy by eating healthy, exercising and living a healthy lifestyle. The vital nutrients in whole and enriched grains make wheat an essential part of a hearty-healthy plan.

According to the American Heart Association, a number of studies support the connection between consumption of whole grain foods – such as whole wheat – and the reduced risk of coronary heart disease. In addition to their many nutrients, whole grains are a good source for dietary fiber. Fiber, as part of an overall healthy diet, helps reduce cholesterol levels and may lower risk for heart disease.

NWF’s full blog post on the subject can be read at http:// wheatfoundation.org/wheathearts-american-heart-month/.

February 19, 2015 2015 Commodity Classic in Phoenix, Arizona Thousands of the country’s top wheat, sorghum, corn and soybean producers gathered in

Phoenix, Arizona, for the 2015 Commodity Classic. NAWG’s annual meeting took place February 25-26 adjacent to Commodity Classic.

enhancements, please visit the NRCS website at http://www.nrcs. usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ national/programs/financial/ csp/?cid=stelprdb1265825.

NRCS to Hold CSP Listening Session at Commodity Classic

The Word On Wheat: America's Wheat Farmers Will Help Feed the World

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) had staff experts on the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) at the Commodity Classic to hear input from NAWG members and others in attendance at the convention.

CSP has become the largest USDA conservation program with more than 60 million acres already enrolled and an additional 50 million acres expected to be enrolled over the next five years as authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill. Through participation in CSP, growers entering into 5-year contracts can receive annual payments for implementing new conservation practices and maintaining existing conservation practices. Producers can also receive supplemental payments for adopting a resource conserving crop rotation. NRCS implemented the changes to CSP resulting from the Farm Bill and program signup is underway. To view NAWG’s comments on the program, please visit http://www.wheatworld.org/ wp-content/uploads/ NAWGComments-on-CSP-2015.pdf.

The deadline to sign up for CSP for fiscal year 2015 was February 27. NRCS has released a significant number of new and revised enhancements for participants to consider undertaking during the 5-year contract term. To review the 2015

Feeding 10 billion people by the turn of the century is one of the greatest challenges production agriculture faces. The Word on Wheat blog asks: “Can U.S. Wheat Production Help Feed a Growing Global Population?”

America’s wheat farmers continue to feed the growing population, with 50 percent of wheat – a staple ingredient in the global diet – exported overseas.

Currently, wheat provides as much as half of the calories consumed in North Africa and West and Central Asia. Without more land resources available, farmers need access to other tools and resources to increase production efficiencies without losing profitability. This can only be done through continued innovation and research of wheat to develop varieties that can withstand pests, diseases and climate challenges.

The future of wheat innovation has the potential to result in production advances through an industry-wide collaborative effort.

As global population increases, America’s wheat farmers can help meet the demand of feeding the world.

The full blog can be read at http://wheatfoundation.org/canu-s-wheat-production-feed-agrowing-global-population/.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 23

USDA Launches 2015 Agriculture Outlook Forum USDA kicks off their 2015 Agriculture Outlook Forum today in Washington, D.C. where agriculture groups and advocates for American farmers expect to focus on “Smart Agriculture in the 21st Century.” Wheat growers can expect discussions on a wide variety of topics that affect their operations, such as a look at biotechnology, big data and other innovations as well as trade including the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) negotiations. The forum will also explore the rural economy, forecasts and commodity prices.

To view a full list of sessions and panelists, visit http://www.usda. gov/oce/forum/.

NAWG and D.C. Prepare for National Ag Day Celebrated on March 18, 2015, Ag Day is the day the nation recognizes and celebrates the abundance provided by our country’s agriculture. Every year, producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and countless others across America join together to recognize the contributions of agriculture. Each American farmer feeds more than 144 people, a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s. Quite

24

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

simply, American agriculture is doing more - and doing it better.

As the world population soars, there is an even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the United States. The National Association of Wheat Growers will continue the tradition of

Ag Day by conducting outreach efforts on Capitol Hill and we encourage our growers around the country to make Ag Day special wherever they are. For more information on how to get involved, visit the Ag Day website at http://www.agday.org/.

News from : February 12, 2015 Growth in Grain Storage Capacity Helps Maintain Reliable U.S. Wheat Supply All Year

By Shawn Campbell, USW Assistant Director, West Coast Office Over the past decade, the United States has experienced an unprecedented grain boom, with the production of the top five grains (corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum and barley) increasing by 42 percent. It is a response to increasing global demand and related higher prices that, in turn, boosted farm revenues and spurred a major expansion of the country’s agricultural infrastructure.

equal to two years of U.S. wheat production.

The production and storage capacity boom has three main drivers. The first is increased yields for all major grain crops.

Over the past ten years, average U.S. corn yields increased by 9.0 bushels per acre. Soybean yields increased by 5.1 bushels per acre.

Over the same period, wheat yields increased 4.5 bushels per acre — only half as much as corn and the least of the three crops.

The second driver is the fact that U.S. farmers planted more and more corn and soybeans. U.S. and international buyers know how this has affected wheat planted

area. Over the past ten years, U.S. corn planted area expanded by 13.6 million acres (19 percent) and soybean area grew by 4.3 million acres (6 percent), largely at the cost of wheat and other small grains. During the same period, wheat area fell by 3.5 million acres (7 percent). Due to the relative difference in yields, an acre of corn requires 3.3 times as much storage space as an acre of wheat, while the space required to store soybeans produced on one acre is relatively the same as for wheat.

For both corn and soybeans, innovations in breeding influenced the run-up in yields and planted area. The broad use of genetic

That investment has included a storage bin building binge that, when combined with increased export and transportation capacity, helps ensure that the U.S. wheat store remains open year round.

Between 2004 and 2014, U.S. farmers and commercial handlers built more than 117 million metric tons (MMT) of new grain storage capacity, an increase of 18 percent.

This total includes 57 MMT of on-farm storage and 60 MMT of off farm-storage. That is about

Average is 2010 to 2014. Table is estimated using USDA data Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 25

markers and genetic testing during the breeding process helped accelerate the release of new varieties with higher yield potential that are better adapted for production in less ideal environments. In addition, traits derived from biotechnology added plant protection that help these new varieties reach their full yield potential. Innovation in wheat breeding, other than biotechnology, has also helped keep U.S. wheat yields on an upward trend, sufficient to stay just ahead of the drop in planted area. Yet even with today’s much lower cash prices, corn and soybeans still offer more profit potential than wheat.

Third, higher farm gate prices and increased production over the past decade helped increase U.S. farmers’ financial strength. Not only could many farmers pay down debt, they could also leverage their position to hold their crops longer, either on their farm or in commercial storage. Over the past four years, the amount of U.S. wheat in storage on average stayed relatively stable especially compared to other grains (see “Monthly Average Grain in Storage” chart on page 25).

The ability of the U.S. farmer to hold back crops when supplies are high and prices are low, and to sell them when supplies are low and prices are high, not only increases the profitability, it also fosters increased year-to-year stability to the U.S. wheat supply. Even in the face of such a large increase in total grain production, that ability and the increased U.S. export capacity means less risk for the world’s wheat buyers.

26

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

Canadian and U.S. Grain Collaborators Publish New Commercial Trade Information The Canada-U.S. Grain and Seed Trade Task Group has published new information that will help commercial grain handlers and buyers better understand the regulations on cross-border trade.

The task group includes several not-for-profit U.S. and Canadian associations working together to provide information that facilitates grain and seed marketing between the two countries.

The information is posted on the group’s website, http:// canada-usgrainandseedtrade. info. It includes new options for commercial handlers to obtain a phytosanitary certificate for U.S., Canadian or commingled grain shipments to third countries loaded at elevators in either country. The website now provides four trade modules, covering U.S. producer deliveries, Canadian producer deliveries, seed trade and the new commercial module.

The task group formed after the Canadian Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act of 2012 ended the mandatory marketing requirement for western Canadian farmers and changed several aspects of the commercial trade, including the elimination of enduse certificates. The open-market changes provide new opportunities for U.S. and Canadian producers and traders to move wheat, durum, or barley across the border but that grain is still subject to the respective and applicable customs and import regulations, such as phytosanitary requirements. Some of that grain may also be exported to a third country.

“U.S. and Canadian government agencies in both countries clarified the requirements governing how phytosanitary certificates are issued for commodities transshipped through either country,” said Tyler Bjornson, president of the Canadian Grains Council. “The new rules provide more transparency about the origin of grain, but they can be complex. Now grain handlers and buyers can reference the new commercial module and share their questions and comments on the website.”

“This new information should answer many of the questions that commercial traders had following the open-market transition about cross-border trade opportunities in both countries,” said Gary Martin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the North American Export Grain Association. “We are very pleased to provide this kind of support that has only been possible because so many grower and industry stakeholders on both sides of the border have been willing to work together.”

Task group members will continue their efforts to improve transparency and recommend policies that facilitate cross border agricultural trade that exceeds $40 billion in two-way trade each year.

New Report Confirms Biotechnology Crop Growth

By USW Policy Specialist Elizabeth Westendorf At the end of January, The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) released its 2014 report on the global status of

commercialized crops with traits derived from biotechnology. The report, dedicated to the late Nobel Peace Laureate and renowned wheat breeder Norman Borlaug to honor his birth centennial, outlines global biotech production, areas of growth and the effect of biotech crops on farmers’ livelihoods. The report is available for purchase at www.isaaa.org.

Some of the key points from the report were: Twenty-eight countries produced biotech crops commercially last year, involving 18 million farmers and 181 million hectares of land; Twenty were developing countries and 90 percent of the farmers from these countries were small, risk-averse and poor; Bangladesh was the newest addition, with Bt eggplant commercialized and planted in 2014; Repeat planting among farmers was at virtually 100 percent, indicating that farmers see economic benefits from the technology; Biotech food crops planted in 2014 included white maize, sugar beet, sweet corn, papaya, squash, and eggplant; U.S. regulators also approved the Innate™ potato, which is resistant to bruising and lowers the already low risk of human exposure to acrylamide, a potential carcinogen, traits that directly benefit consumers; Thirty-eight countries granted 3,083 regulatory approvals for 27 biotech crops and 357 biotech events since 1994, while Japan has granted the most approvals at 201 events.

The United States is still the largest producer of biotech crops, with 73.1 million hectares in production and eight different biotech crops commercialized.

Last year, there was increased adoption of drought tolerant maize, which increased 5.5 fold from 2013.

Breeders are studying potential biotech traits in wheat in the United States, but also in Australia, the United Kingdom, China, Canada and other countries. A number of African countries are developing biotech varieties for staple crops that will help smallholder farmers, and field trials for drought tolerant and pest resistant wheat have taken place in Africa in the past.

The report also referenced a 2014 meta-analysis conducted

by Klumper and Qaim, which analyzed 147 published studies on biotech crops over 20 years and confirmed the benefits of the technology. The study concluded that biotech crops on average reduce pesticide use by 37 percent, increase yields by 22 percent, and increase farmer profits by 68 percent. The authors estimated that the reduction in pesticide use due to biotech crops has kept 500 million kilograms of active ingredient out of the environment.

In addition to the huge successes in biotechnology, non-biotech innovation continues to show excellent results. The report highlights several types of technology developed for biotech research that researchers are applying with excellent results in non-biotech crop breeding.

The efforts by a vocal minority to create unwarranted fear of

these innovations among the world’s consumers complicates the daunting task for farmers who must increase food production by 60 percent to feed a population that will top the nine billion mark by 2050. Wheat makes up 20 percent of human calories and farmers will have to produce more and better wheat, more efficiently and more sustainably in the future. We must recognize consumer choice, yet we must also consider all the options available to the people we depend on to feed us every day — and the ISAAA report reflects consistent growth in adoption of biotechnology even in the face of such opposition.

Read more at http://bit. ly/1AhGUJ1.

U.S. Wheat Associates Elects 2015/16 Officers USW farmer directors elected officers for the 2015/16 (July to June) fiscal year at their board meeting in Washington, DC, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. Mike Miller of Ritzville, WA, was elected to serve as SecretaryTreasurer. Current Vice Chairman Brian O’Toole of Crystal, ND, was elected Chairman and current Secretary-Treasurer Jason Scott of Stevensville, MD, was elected Vice Chairman. Current Chairman Roy Motter of Brawley, CA, will become Past Chairman. The new USW officers begin their oneyear terms in July 2015 at the organization’s annual meeting in San Diego, CA. “I see the opportunities and challenges ahead for the wheat industry through the eyes of my kids,” Miller said. “What we do over the next few years will affect Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 27

the next generation the most.

I’m excited about working in a leadership position to help meet those needs and to maintain or grow new overseas markets for U.S. wheat.”

Miller is a fourth generation farmer who operates a dryland wheat farm and grows multiple crops on a separate, irrigated farm in east central Washington. He has served on many local, state and national boards, and is in his second term on the Washington Grain Commission and his fourth year as a USW director representing Washington. Miller is also very active in supporting wheat research and development.

He and his wife, Marci, have three children.

Brian O’Toole is an experienced agricultural and community leader. He serves on the North Dakota Wheat Commission, on the board of the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, OR, and is Chairman of SBARE Wheat Granting Committee. He is also past president of the North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association and past president of Crystal Farmers Elevator Co-op.

O’Toole has received the Young Outstanding Farmer Award, Master Farmer Award and Friends of 4-H Award.

Jason Scott is at least a sixthgeneration wheat farmer from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where he manages his family’s soft red winter (SRW) wheat, row crop and vegetable operation. He also owns and operates a Pioneer Hi-Bred® seed dealership with his father. Scott has been a member of the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board since 2003 and 28

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

served as president from 2005 to 2007. Scott received the Maryland Young Farmer Achievement Award in 2011. In his six years on the USW Board of Directors, Scott has represented his state and USW on two board team delegations to Africa and Europe.

Roy Motter is managing partner of Spruce Farms, LLC, a diverse operation in California’s Imperial Valley that produces Desert Durum®, lettuce, cabbage, onions, sugar beets, sugar cane, alfalfa seed and hay, sudan grass, melons and tomatoes. He has been a member of the California Wheat Commission since 1998.

Dalton Henry Joins U.S. Wheat Associates as Policy Director International trade policies increasingly influence world wheat market opportunities.

Recognizing the need for additional resources, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) announces that Dalton Henry will join the organization in March 2015 as Director of Policy. Henry is currently Director of Government Affairs for Kansas Wheat, the cooperative agreement between the Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers.

“I am very pleased with the talented trade policy team working for U.S. wheat farmers to increase market access and monitor previous trade commitments,” said USW President Alan Tracy.

“Dalton’s commitment to our industry and experience managing these and other issues for a major wheat producing state will add a lot of strength to that effort.”

“It is exciting to continue working on behalf of our country’s wheat farmers as part of the USW policy team,” Henry said.

“They have a great track record of producing results and I look forward to helping move the trade policy agenda forward.”

Henry joined Kansas Wheat in 2010 and has been responsible for implementing policies for the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and managing the association’s membership function, including member retention, programming, meetings and communications.

He has also been the association’s primary contact for Congressional offices, state agencies and agricultural organizations.

A May 2010 graduate of Kansas State University (K-State), Henry earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and journalism, emphasizing in agricultural economics. He grew up on and is still involved with a diversified crop and livestock operation near Randolph, KS. He was involved in 4-H and FFA, and was elected president of the Kansas FFA Association in 2006.

Henry had a distinguished college career, serving on several student government committees and as

Student Body President in 2009/10.

He was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and served in the College of Agriculture Ambassadors and as a charter member of the Collegiate Farm Bureau chapter.

USW Directors Make Several Important Decisions At their board meeting Jan. 31, 2015, in Washington, DC, USW farmer directors considered and passed several motions presented to them by various committees that met Jan. 29 and 30. Those motions establish USW’s public policy and are summarized below.

Federal Grain Inspection.

USW supports requiring the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) to take whatever actions are necessary to immediately restore official grain inspection and weighing service wherever and whenever it is disrupted, either by immediately replacing absent inspectors with FGIS Official personnel or with inspectors from available qualified providers, including other designated or delegated Official Agencies, as is mandated under the U.S. Grains Standards Act. Read more at http://bit.ly/1A25cYd. Wheat Food Security Sectoral. USW supports developing a global wheat sectoral initiative that eliminates import tariffs, export restrictions, export and import quotas, export subsidies and state trading enterprises. Such an initiative should include limits on trade distorting domestic support and improved member transparency requirements for agricultural support programs and government

policies affecting the wheat sector.

This initiative would provide real food security to consumers in participating countries by removing key trade barriers that distort markets and make staple foods more expensive. It will lead to a more market-oriented global wheat production and a trading system that benefits wheat producers, value chain members and the world’s consumers, especially in import-dependent countries. Read more at http://bit. ly/1s0iXhL. Cuba. USW strongly supports ending the Cuba embargo and allowing unrestricted free trade in agricultural products to create opportunities for U.S. agriculture and to ensure food security for the Cuban people. Read more at http:// bit.ly/1sDIvXy. Supporting Specific GM Wheat LLP Level. USW supports establishing low level presence (LLP1) policies for trade of wheat intended for food, feed and processing that are predictable, science-based and consistent with international guidelines. A workable LLP threshold should incorporate biological and logistical realities. We support a 5% LLP threshold on a trait specific basis as a reasonable level to achieve a cost effective approach. We further encourage governments to establish synchronized approval policies of biotech traits to minimize trade disruptions of biotech products.

Read more at http://www.uswheat. org/biotechnology#.

Food Aid. USW believes that Farm Bill food aid programs should remain under the Congressional jurisdiction of

the agriculture committees, as is written in current law, and encourages the National Association of Wheat Growers to communicate this stance to appropriate policy makers.

Removing food aid from the agricultural committees and USDA would be a detriment to maintaining the continued support for U.S. food aid programs that deliver high quality American commodities to those most in need around the world.

Low Level Presence is the unintentional, low level presence, of an agricultural biotech product approved in one or more countries, but not approved in the importing country.

1

Wheat Industry News Not for Your Customers, Minister Fyodorov. Reuters reported that when asked about several vessels loaded with wheat for Egypt stuck in Russian ports due to export restrictions in late January, Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov said: “It’s a technical and small issue.”

February 26, 2015 USDA Outlook: More U.S. Wheat in 2015/16

By Casey Chumrau, USW Market Analyst USDA released its Grains and Oilseeds Outlook for the 2015/16 harvest at its annual Agricultural Outlook Forum Feb. 20 in Arlington, VA. Despite lower expected planted acres, USDA predicted a 5 percent increase in total U.S. wheat production in 2015/16. Considering the winter crop is still dormant and the spring crop is not yet in the ground, weather conditions Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 29

the next six months will be a major factor in helping U.S. wheat farmers meet or beat that expectation.

Drought conditions that forced high abandonment rates last year are still a concern in the southern and central plains but overall crop conditions are better than this time last year.

USDA projected a higher ratio of harvested acres and better yields.

The combination of these factors would help total U.S. production reach 57.8 million metric tons (MMT) or 2.12 billion bushels in 2015/16, up from 55.1 MMT (2.02 billion bushels) in 2014/15 and just slightly ahead of the five-year average. In its Jan. 12 Winter Wheat Seedings report, USDA estimated that farmers planted 40.5 million acres (16.4 million hectares) to winter wheat for the 2015/16 crop, a 3 percent decline from 2014/15. Assuming normal weather conditions, USDA forecasted the average yield up 3 percent to 45.2 bushels per acre (3.04 MT per hectare), equal to the five-year average.

Last week’s outlook also provided the first estimate of spring wheat and durum planted area, projecting a 4 percent increase from last year to 15.0 million acres (6.08 million hectares). As spring wheat typically accounts for less than one third of total wheat acres, the projected increase would not fully offset the estimated decline in winter wheat planted area.

Commercial wheat sales for 2014/15 to date may help explain these mixed planting numbers.

Despite futures contracts at or near multiple-year lows, U.S. wheat prices have been relatively high on the world market this marketing year. Sales-to-date of hard red winter (HRW) and soft red winter (SRW) are less than last year due in part to a drop in demand from Brazil and China.

However, sales of both hard red spring (HRS) and durum are well ahead of last year’s pace and both will likely exceed the five-year average. Overall, USDA estimated 46 percent (26.5 MMT, 974 million bushels) of the total U.S.

crop will be exported in 2015/16.

While USDA will not release its first official 2015/16 global supply and demand estimates until May, it did comment at last week’s Outlook Forum that world wheat production will likely fall shy of the record 725 MMT (26.6 billion bushels) reached in 2014/15. However, current excellent growing conditions in several major importing countries will likely limit global wheat trade and keep export competition very strong. As a result, USDA predicted 2015/16 U.S. exports will increase 8 percent from 2014/15 to 26.5 MMT (974 million bushels) but fall short of the five-year average of 29.6 MMT (1.09 billion bushels).

Presuming these predictions will be realized, USDA projected 2015/16 U.S. ending stocks at 20.8 MMT (764 million bushels), their highest since 2010/11. While there is still a lot of time before the new crop hits the market, there is a good chance that the United States will once again have ample supply to meet both projected imports and any special needs that arise.

New Study on Abuse of WTO Agricultural Rules Could Help Focus Doha Round Negotiations

*Reference Price, Agricultural Act of 2014 **Support price under the Paddy Pledging Scheme Note: China and Brazil wheat reflect 2014/15 support price levels 30

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

Several influential countries are not complying with the domestic agricultural support commitments they made as members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). That is the conclusion of a study sponsored by U.S. commodity organizations and introduced to agricultural negotiators Feb. 18

study in 2011, a few countries increased their minimum support price for wheat by $50 to $100 per metric ton.

in Geneva, Switzerland. Those organizations made the point that recognizing the current realities in agricultural support and trade could help improve the chances of finally reaching a Doha Round agreement.

The study was conducted by DTB Associates, Washington, DC, and updates a similar study conducted in 2011. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) was one of the sponsors of the latest study indicating that the governments of India, China, Turkey, Brazil and Thailand have dramatically increased trade distorting subsidies for wheat, corn or rice production over the past ten years to levels that exceed their WTO agreements — in most cases by large margins. That information has not been readily available to WTO negotiators.

“U.S. wheat farmers strongly support the goals of the WTO and the Doha Round,” said USW President Alan Tracy. “We also believe every WTO member must follow the rules. Sadly, the facts we have uncovered show this is not the case.”

Member countries are required to report their domestic support levels to WTO regularly, but

more than 650 notifications were late as of November 2014, Tracy noted. Turkey has not reported its support since its 2001 crop year. China has not reported since 2008 and India just submitted a notification last fall covering seven crop years to make them current through 2010. However, the study demonstrates that even notifications that have been reported often rely on faulty methodology.

“This study shines a light on what is really happening,” said USW Vice President of Policy Shannon Schlecht. “What it shows is a massive increase in government-sanctioned support prices and violations of Aggregate Measure of Support agreements that are distorting world trade in wheat, corn and rice.”

The dramatic increases in current support price levels by country and commodity in the study are clear and most revealing when compared with reference prices in the United States.

The minimum government prices reported in the study indicated a significant increase in support for wheat production in these countries over the past several years. Since the original

Under the Uruguay Round Agreement of the mid 1990s, WTO member countries agreed to abide by limits on Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS).

The DTB study showed India, China, Turkey and Thailand have exceeded their AMS commitments by a wide margin (See “Aggregate Measure of Support”). WTO records show that the United States has always met its annual notification commitment and has never exceeded its AMS limit of $19.1 billion.

The fact that these countries have far exceeded their WTO support commitments leads to serious trade distortions. An insightful example may be found in the Indian government’s wheat production and trade policies.

The study determined that India’s minimum support price for wheat increased by 111 percent between 2005/06 and 2013/14.

India recently notified the WTO of a much lower increase but the study showed that the Indian government used faulty tactics to calculate the number it reported, a number that many other WTO members have questioned.

Increasing support levels gave Indian farmers an artificial incentive to produce more wheat.

In fact, India’s wheat production increased by 35 percent over those seven years to record levels. That buoyed world wheat supplies and increased pressure on prices that hurt wheat farmers in other countries.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 31

Over the same time, Indian wheat exports increased from 300,000 metric tons (MT) to 6.5 million MT. The study also included evidence that India is offering wheat export subsidies that are also illegal under its WTO commitment. Yet, claiming it must maintain a large public stockpile of grain to maintain food security as an advanced developing country, India has demanded exemptions to its trade-distorting levels of support.

“We agree with our U.S. agricultural negotiators that we see no possibility of concluding the Doha agreement by pursuing the same approach used over the last decade,” Schlecht said.

“Hopefully the facts in the study will help raise awareness of the current realities of tradedistorting farm subsidies.

Without this information it will be impossible for WTO members to achieve a balanced Doha Round conclusion across the domestic support, market access and export competition pillars."

For more information, visit www.dtbassociates.com/docs/ DomesticSupportStudy11-2014. pdf and www.dtbassociates.com/ docs/domesticsupportstudy.pdf.

USW Board Team Heads to Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico

By Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW Programs and Planning Assistant Over the next two weeks, I will be traveling with three wheat farmers on USW’s 2015 Latin America Board Team. Board Teams are intense, regional visits

32

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

designed to bring together the farmers who supply the world’s most reliable source of high quality wheat and the people who import and use U.S. wheat to help improve their products and expand their businesses.

Traveling with me are: • Von Johnson, Chairman, Nebraska Wheat Board, Cambridge, NE • Ken Tremain, Past President, Wyoming Wheat Growers, La Grange, WY • Scott Van Allen, Chairman, Kansas Wheat Commission, Clearwater, KS Our trip starts at USW Headquarters Office in Arlington, VA, and at USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service offices in Washington, DC, before leaving for Cali, Colombia, on Saturday.

The team will spend three fastpaced days in Colombia. We will visit millers, bakers and government contacts in Cali, Medellin and Bogota. After a short but busy day in Costa Rica to tour Caldera’s port facility and meet with MOLCRISA, Costa Rica’s largest flour mill, and two large food processors, the team will fly to Mexico for the last leg of our journey. There we will meet with pasta manufacturers and millers in Puebla and Mexico City before returning home on March 10.

We will be posting regular updates and photographs of our travels. Follow the team’s progress on the USW Facebook page at www.facebook.com/uswheat.

USW Hires Communications Specialist USW welcomes Amanda Spoo as communications specialist in its Arlington, VA, headquarters effective March 9, 2015. Spoo will provide public relations and marketing communications support, specifically working to communicate the value of USW to stakeholder organizations.

“Amanda’s education and creative approach in her current position are ideal to support what we are doing to expand outreach to wheat farmers and their overseas customers,” said USW Vice President of Communications Steve Mercer.

"We look forward to having Amanda join our growing base of young, talented associates.”

Spoo grew up in Hermiston, OR, and earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and journalism at Kansas State University. She gained valuable experience in the grain industry by working three years as a student communications specialist at the IGP Institute and worked as a communications intern in Government Affairs with ICM, Inc., a Kansas biofuels company. Spoo was an active member of Agriculture Future of America, serving on its student advisory team. Over the past two years, Spoo managed a broad range of strategic producer communications and consumer outreach projects as director of communications at the Kansas Pork Association.

Wheat Industry News Bayer to Invest $1.9 Billion in Wheat Research. Bayer CropScience announced its research and development commitment through 2020 at its Cereal Future Forum in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 11 and 12. The initiative includes seven wheat breeding stations around the world, working on high-yielding seeds and new crop protection solutions. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1zIasLM. New Pasta-Focused Newsletter. The International Pasta Organisation launched a new monthly newsletter – “The Truth About Pasta.”

The newsletter will focus on promoting – “pasta is healthy, sustainable, convenient, delicious, affordable, doesn’t make you fat and much, much more.” To read the first edition or sign up for the newsletter, visit http://www. pastaforall.info/wordpress/.

CIMMYT Scientist Contributes to Book on Climate Change. Matthew Reynolds, wheat physiologist and distinguished scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), recently contributed his expertise to the book “Climate Change and Crop Production.” Reynolds plays a leading role in several international wheat initiatives, including the Heat and Drought Wheat Improvement Consortium (HeDWIC) and the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP).

For more information, visit http:// bit.ly/1vSJ6qw.

Pew Research Shows Perception Gap Between Consumers and Scientists.

A new report from the Pew Research Center surveyed citizens and scientists connected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science to analyze views on science, engineering and technology issues. The largest gap was related to the safety of genetically modified foods, with 88 percent of scientists saying they believed that genetically modified foods are relatively safe, while only 37 percent of the public group held the same viewpoint. To read the full study, visit http://pewrsr. ch/1wF3R2h.

IGP Buhler Flour Milling Courses. In conjunction with Buhler Inc., Kansas State (K-State) University’s Department of Grain Science and Industry and the IGP Institute are offering several milling courses in the IGP Executive Conference Center and the Hal Ross Flour Mill on the K- State campus in Manhattan, KS. The courses run from March through November with both English and Spanish language instruction. For more information on the courses and to register, visit http://www.grains.ksu.edu/ igp.

NCI Pasta Course. The Northern Crops Institute in Fargo, ND will hold its Pasta Production and Technology Short Course April 14 to 16, 2015. For more information or to register, visit http://www.northern-crops. com/.

WMC Biscuit and Cracker Technology Short Course.

The Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, OR, will hold its Biscuit and Cracker Technology Short Course May 12 to 16, 2015. For more information or to register, visit http://wmcinc.org/ WMC_03_Cookie_and_Cracker. html.

U.S. Dietary Guidelines Keeps Whole Grain and Enriched Recommendations.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee kept the 2010 recommendation to have 50 percent of grain intake be from whole grains, after considering a cut in the recommended intake of enriched grains. Public comments will be accepted on the Committee’s advisory report through April 8, 2015. For more information or to submit comments, visit http://www. health.gov/dietaryguidelines/ dga2015/comments/.

Merged GFF Website Goes Live. The Grains Food Foundation (GFF) rolled out a new website merging the “Go with the Grain” and “Grains for Your Brain” websites. The rebranding includes a new logo, brand position and brand statement.

Check out the new site at http:// grainfoodsfoundation.org/.

Follow USW Online. Visit our 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.

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 33

Measure and manage to other Nature always has the final influence on the wheat crop, but producers can help maximize their wheat’s potential.

To learn how, participants from 10 states attended Farm Journal’s Wheat College on February 24 in Manhattan. The event was sponsored by Great Plains, Verdesian and WestBred.

M

High yield wheat expert Phil Needham and Kansas State University Research & Extension Soil and Crop Fertility Specialist Dr. Dave Mengel discussed a range of topics from soil nutrient management to proper planting depth to effective disease management.

“The most profitable producers I work with are the ones who make the most informed decisions,” Needham wrote in the program’s Official Guide. “These include soil tests, tissue tests and regular field scouting, all of which can help determine which inputs need to be applied to each field, plus how much and when.”

Testing Soils to Effectively Apply Nutrients Farmers can still establish a nutrient management program for the emerging wheat crop, according to Mengel. To start, Mengel suggested producers test 34

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

their soils. He reported that less than half of Kansas fields are sampled on a regular basis and recommended testing soils every one to three years, depending on crop rotation.

Mengel recommended taking soil samples between November and March (not too late!) to measure existing nutrient levels.

He reported that the most important elements for wheat include nitrogen, potassium, sulfur and chloride. He recommended taking soil samples at two or three different depths to capture nutrient levels for different elements. This includes a surface sample from 0 to 6 inches to measure pH, lime, organic matter, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. A second profile sample from 0 to 24 inches measures nitrates/ nitrogen, sulfur and chloride. Mengel said no-till producers should consider an additional 0 to 3 inches sample to match pH and lime recommendations for no-till fields.

Mengel also suggested producers consider utilizing soil/ topography maps, grid samples, management zones and plant tissue analysis. He stressed that the best nutrient management system utilizes multiple layers of testing and takes a long-term view.

“You do not want to stress your wheat either by having too much of a good thing or not enough,” he said. “Keep records and look at those trends.”

Managing Current Crop Conditions to Achieve High Yields Needham stressed that to achieve higher yields, producers must focus on achieving uniformity of distribution across wheat fields. To do so, he encouraged producers to regularly scout and test fields and soil to match the wheat’s needs with inputs applied.

For example, Needham suggested splitting spring nitrogen applications so that producers can adjust the levels applied at the jointing stage based on how much total nitrogen the plant will need.

“As expensive as nitrogen is, we have got to apply it as close as possible to when the plant can take it up and utilize it,” Needham said.

As the flag leaves emerge, Needham stressed regular observance of fields to spot diseases, since the flag leaf and ear of the wheat plant contribute 65 percent of yield. Needham said the goal is to keep healthy and green flag leaves at the end of grain fill when the heads start to dry down.

achieve high yielding wheat “I want the wheat to physiologically mature, not die off,” he said.

Start Early However, Needham stressed that if producers do not start management programs early, then they cannot increase the plant’s maximum potential. The only way to accomplish that is at planting.

“Remember that unless you create the potential for high yields at seeding time, you should not expect bin-busting crops at harvest,” Needham wrote in the program’s Official Guide.

For planting, Needham stressed ensuring the seeds are planted deep enough – 1 to 1.5 inches deep – especially for crops planted into heavy residue. Additionally, producers should conduct soil tests on nitrogen levels and apply just enough nitrogen to fuel the plant’s growth. Too much nitrogen too early and the wheat plants will produce too many tillers and result in heavy biomass and lodging at harvest time. Too little nitrogen and wheat plants will have reduced tiller numbers, heads and head size.

the number of plants in a 3-foot segment (the length of a yardstick) and multiply that number times a calculated figure based on row spacing (see chart). This provides the number of wheat plants per square yard. Needham said producers should strive for between 200 to 300 emerged plants per square yard, depending on rainfall and planting date.

Adjusting Equipment to Achieve Uniformity Needham also stressed updating or re-calibrating equipment to ensure an even distribution of inputs. This could include adjustments to existing machinery like adding extra weight to a planter to increase the downward pressure

by Julia Debes on each opener and ensure seeds are planted to the same depth. However, Needham said producers should also consider technology to allow for variable rate application for fertilizer, maximizing the nitrogen’s impact for the parts of the field that need it and minimizing extraneous costs.

Needham said that the ultimate goal for all these strategies “is all about coverage” and ensuring the all inputs are applied as uniformly as possible across the wheat field.

As he wrote in the Official Guide, “There are almost always opportunities to make simple changes that can boost stand uniformity, increase yields and put more dollars in your pocket.”

Needham also encouraged producers to conduct stand counts at emergence. Needham suggested conducting 20 stand counts per field and calculating how many wheat plants have emerged in a square yard. To do so, producers should measure

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 35

Think you have the best wheat in Kansas?

Prove it!

Enter the Kansas Wheat Yield Contest by June 1, 2015, for your chance to win!

The top yield entry in Western, Central and Eastern regions of Kansas receives a $1,000 cash prize and plaque.

Kansas growers sought for wheat yield contest ow that the 2015 Kansas wheat crop is breaking dormancy, achieving top yields is on the minds of wheat farmers. With Mother Nature’s help, your best management practices could be just the ticket to earn you a quick $1,000 in cash, if you enter the Kansas Wheat Yield Contest.

N

Now in its sixth year, the contest includes three regions: Region 1 (Western Kansas), Region 2 (Central Kansas) and Region 3 (Eastern Kansas). Producers achieving the top yield in each region receive a $1,000 cash prize and plaque from Kansas Wheat and corporate co-sponsor, BASF. Yield Contest sponsors also offer additional cash awards. Winners who use an AgriPro, WestBred, Plains Gold, LimaGrain or Kansas Wheat Alliance variety will receive an additional $500 cash prize from those companies, respectively.

For the fifth year in a row, contest entrants will be eligible to participate in the Quality Initiative of the Wheat Yield Contest. Each contest participant

36

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

will be asked to submit a 5-pound sample of wheat from the contest field. The sample will be evaluated for quality components such as test weight, protein content, variety and kernel quality. Top scoring samples will undergo further testing at ADM Milling’s Quality Laboratory in Kansas City. The sample with the top quality score will receive $250 in cash.

Central Region winner Doug Keas of Plainville cinched both the region award and the Qualitive Initiative in the 2014 contest. Keas planted SY Wolf on a 10.32 acre plot in Rooks County.

His winning yield was 78.39 bushels an acre.

The June 1 deadline is approaching quickly, so be sure to enter the contest soon.

Folks who enter the contest will be asked to share management information about their farm, including details about tillage and agronomic practices, crop protection products usage and more. A third party verifier will be employed at harvest to ensure the integrity of the contest.

Wheat farmers who are 18 years or older from throughout Kansas are eligible to participate by enrolling a plot at least five acres in size. The fee is $50 per entry. Producers may enter more than once, but each entry must be submitted on a separate entry form. Kansas Wheat directors, employees and spouses are prohibited from entering the contest. Contestants must use certified seed. The contest is open only to dryland fields planted to certified Hard Winter wheat.

Contest winners will receive their awards at the 2015 Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson.

For those who are interested in accepting the challenge, more details about the 2015 Kansas Wheat Yield Contest can be found online at www.kswheat.com, by requesting an information packet via e-mail at kswheat@kswheat. com, or by writing to Kansas Wheat, 1990 Kimball Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502.

Hello Kansas Wheat.

Maltby Market Analysis

by Dan Maltby

The good news is…the USA sold 5 vessels of USA Hard Red Winter wheat to Egypt to be shipped fairly soon, and the futures market closed slightly higher for the week. The bad news is the basis bids in the country were posted a little lower this week, and as country bids come from the export bids, one would surmise the exporters are not overly concerned about stemming this business…

This chart is KC K (May) futures, and Thursday’s spike low reversal followed by another close in the green on this candlestick offers a bit of hope that this nasty bear slide is getting tired. It’s maybe a little early to say “the bottom is in”, but the good news is this is a buy-signal on the daily chart.

The bad news is this long term KC wheat weekly chart is not flashing a buy signal yet.

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 #159 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 02/27/15 pg. 1

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 37

I think I’ve written more than once that this year sure reminds me of 2009/10. Crop year 2009/10 saw wheat futures drop about a $1.20 from October to March, as we did this year…Then spring of 2010 marked time, until suddenly the world realized the Russian’s wheat had burnt up.

Will that happen again? I’m not sure, but it certainly could. And it’s a little eerie if you ask me.

The International Grains Council released their Feb. 2015 update last Thursday, and in my opinion, “the trade” (or at least the various wires…) focused solely on the 2 million tonne increase to this year’s world wheat production estimate, now up to 719 million metric tonnes. But NOBODY said anything about the IGC’s initial wheat production estimate for 2015/16, which is 705 mmt. Will demand decrease? Or will steady demand eat into world wheat carryover stocks?

world wheat production and world wheat consumption (mmt) 730 720 710 700 690 680 670 660

world wheat production mmt

650

world wheat consumption mmt

640 2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

Current winter wheat conditions in North America are pretty good. Decent fall moisture led to strong emergence and good stands, and even though USA winter wheat acreage is down maybe a few % points this year, the prospect of better yields currently points to a slightly bigger USA wheat crop. It’s too early to say much about North American spring wheat other than it appears so far wheat (and corn) plantings will not be facing delays. Prices are viewed as not high enough, or low enough…to cause major North American wheat production shortfalls. South America looks fairly normal, India’s wheat crop is actually potentially very very big, and the Aussie crop would have to be assumed to be “average” for the coming year. China is on the dry side, but much (most?) of their wheat is irrigated, and the winter in France and Germany has been benign. THUS…where could this expected 14 million metric tonne wheat production decrease be coming from?

Obviously, the only remaining area is The Black Sea area… mainly Ukraine and Russia.

Kansas Wheat market update #159 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 02/27/15 pg. 2 38

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

SO...at this time, whether it likes it or not, in my opinion…the market should start to build in some risk premium, because it has to be able to have an answer for this question: “Will the Black Sea wheat crop be reduced enough to the point that their current export taxes will be extended past June 1, thus forcing Egypt, and others…to have a Plan B? And if Plan B is “source USA wheat”, as we saw in 2010, the USA wheat futures market will have no qualms about rallying way more than needed, way faster than expected.

Anyways, that’s still a ways off. In the meantime, the market is well aware USA wheat conditions will look pretty good. The Plains received moisture last week.

It should be noted that the IGC also said they are currently expecting a 5% drop in world maize production this year, but as world corn demand (consumption) can fluctuate almost 100 million tonnes in a year, it’s too early to think a lot about corn.

Here’s a similar corn chart. My main point is recent wheat consumption has been very steady, maybe having a demand component (wheat flour) that is less price sensitive than corn, as high corn prices lead to animal herd reductions.

Kansas Wheat market update #159 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 02/27/15 pg. 3

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 39

world maize production and consumption (mmt) 1010 990 970 950 930 910 890

world maize production mmt

870

world maize consumption mmt

850 2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

All wheat eyes are on Russia.

This week’s closing futures table shows the nearby month as the May (K) instead of the March, with no new red fonts or new blue fonts in mainly sideways action: CLOSE

KWK15

KWN15

KWZ15

CK15

CN15

CZ15

WK15

MWK15

MWN15

SK15

SN15

02/27

$5.40

$5.46

$5.75

$3.93

$4.01

$4.18

$5.13

$5.67

$5.73

$10.32

$10.35

02/20

$5.38

$5.46

$5.73

$3.93

$4.01

$4.16

$5.07

$5.67

$5.72

$10.02

$10.06

02/13

$5.64

$5.69

$5.93

$3.95

$4.03

$4.18

$5.29

$5.85

$5.87

$9.95

$10.00

02/06

$5.65

$5.67

$5.94

$3.94

$4.02

$4.17

$5.29

$5.81

$5.87

$9.80

$9.86

01/30

$5.43

$5.46

$5.72

$3.79

$3.86

$4.01

$5.07

$5.61

$5.69

$9.68

$9.73

01/23

$5.69

$5.72

$5.98

$3.95

$4.03

$4.17

$5.33

$5.83

$5.91

$9.80

$9.85

01/16

$5.80

$5.83

$6.08

$3.94

$4.01

$4.15

$5.35

$5.91

$5.99

$9.98

$10.03

01/09

$6.05

$6.09

$6.33

$4.08

$4.15

$4.22

$5.68

$6.10

$6.17

$10.58

$10.62

01/02

$6.22

$6.24

$6.50

$4.05

$4.11

$4.20

$5.87

$6.19

$6.27

$10.15

$10.21

12/26

$6.49

$6.54

$6.75

$4.23

$4.30

$4.39

$6.15

$6.39

$6.48

$10.61

$10.66

12/19

$6.70

$6.72

$6.91

$4.19

$4.26

$4.35

$6.35

$6.54

$6.61

$10.46

$10.52

12/12

$6.37

$6.40

$6.64

$4.16

$4.22

$4.32

$6.09

$6.27

$6.34

$10.60

$10.65

Kansas Wheat market update #159 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 02/27/15 pg. 4 40

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2015

And corresponding wheat bids in the country are flat to slightly higher. Some basis bids may be weaker, or quite likely, the bids are still getting used to being basis the K, and will sort out this week…

Date 02/27 02/20 02/13 02/06 Date 02/27 02/20 02/13 02/06 BASIS 02/27 K 02/20 H 02/13 02/06 Date 02/27 K 02/20 H 02/13 02/06

Dodge $5.00 $4.93 $5.23 $5.22 Concordia $5.10 $5.08 $5.38 $5.32 Dodge -40 -40 -40 -40 Concordia -30 -25 -25 -30

Colby $5.03 $5.01 $5.31 $5.30 Salina $5.20 $5.13-$5.18 $5.38-$5.48 $5.37 Colby -36 -32 -32 -32 Salina -20, -20 -20, -15 -25, -15 -25, -25

Goodland $4.99 $4.98 $5.27 $5.26 Hutchinson $5.06-$5.25 $5.04-$5.23 $5.34-$5.53 $5.33-$5.52 Goodland -40 -35 -35 -35 Hutchinson -34, -15 -29, -10 -29, -10 -29, -10

Protection $5.00 $4.93 $5.23 $5.22 Wichita $5.11-$5.20 $5.09-$5.18 $5.39-$5.48 $5.38-$5.47 Protection -40 -40 -40 -40 Wichita -29, -20 -24, -15 -24, -15 -24, -15

Scott City $4.97 $4.95 $5.25 $5.24 Ark City $5.09 $5.07 $5.37 $5.36 Scott City -43 -38 -38 -38 Ark City -31 -26 -26 -26

Sublette $4.95-$5.02 $4.93-$4.98 $5.23-$5.28 $5.22-$5.27

Sublette -43, -38 -40, -35 -40, -35 -40, -35

I don’t like seeing the weaker basis especially in light of the Egyptian export business, but again, maybe this is because of rolling the flat price bids to the K futures. We’ll see how this week plays out. So far, this spread chart of the expiring KC H-K does not suggest bids need to aggressively chase bushels.

Kansas Wheat market update #159 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 02/27/15 pg. 5

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 41

A Dec 15 corn chart is in full waiting for spring mode…

Maybe these beans are trying to get interesting. I think everyone is short, probably rightfully so, as South America is cutting a record crop, but China buys and buys and buys…so maybe the shorts are nervous. This is a weekly long term chart, and I highlighted some patterns that look similar to me.

I doubt it’s coming, but buy-stops around $10.70 would indeed be significant.

I sit on my remaining wheat, and am not hedging additional new crop sales at these prices. All wheat eyes are on Russia…

Maltby Market Analysis is provided weekly to members of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers via email. To become a KAWG member and subscribe, please contact Jordan Hildebrand at jhildebrand@kswheat.com.

Kansas Wheat market update #159 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 02/27/15 pg. 6

And possibly pushing the esoteric envelope…I know “Gentlemen don’t trade them”, but a lot of oldtimers say “Oats knows”…so I want to show this May oat chart, and ask if $2.75 oats encourages the Canadians to plant them:

Here is the expiring H –K oat spread, and this thing is nasty…

12c inverse when delivery stocks are almost 4X as many this year as there were last year…!! I’d say some Big Boys did not play nice with each other.

Kansas Wheat market update #159 danmaltby.riskmgmt@gmail.com 02/27/15 pg. 7

Rediscover WHE AT | MARCH 2014 43

@KansasWheat

KansasWheat AmericasBreadbasket

americasbread

Upcoming Events MARCH 2015 • Bake and Take Month • Neighbor to Neighbor Food Drive Kick-off Event, March 2, 3:30 p.m., Harvester’s Topeka • Agriculture Day in Dillon’s Stores, March 7, statewide • National Agriculture Day, March 18 • Jim Richardson Seminar, March 18, 7-9:00 p.m., Manhattan • Kansas Commodity Groups Pancake Breakfast, March 19, 6-8:30 a.m., Mater Dei Church Basement, Topeka

MAY 2015 • Kansas Sampler Festival, May 2-3, Wamego City Park, Wamego • Wheat Quality Council Hard Winter Wheat Tour, May 4-7, 2015 • ADM event, May 14, 11:00 a.m., K-State Agricultural Research Center, Hays JUNE 2015 • National Festival of Breads, June 13, 2015, Hilton Garden Inn, Manhattan, KS, nationalfestivalofbreads.com