12/11/08 Hard white wheat acreage in Idaho

Idaho farmers turn out some of the best wheat in America. Some Idaho growers are trying something other than soft white and that other is hard white wheat. JOHNSTON "But I believe that hard white wheat will continue to grow in demand." That's Clark Johnston of AgriSource in Burley. Right now hard white wheat acreage in Idaho is practically lost among the 1.3 million acres of all wheat varieties grown last year. JOHNSTON "The hard white demand is such that if you raise it you're going to be able to move it anyway. You're not going to be as someone's mercy like soft white kinda is now." National Ag Statistics Service says four thousand Idaho acres went into hard white wheat last year. Johnston says Mexico is one market that Idaho could use for export in addition to domestic markets. JOHNSTON "They would take all the hard white we could raise in Idaho because Idaho raises such good quality and its consistent." He says 20 to 25 thousand bushels a month of Idaho hard white wheat is sent to millers within 200 miles of Burley and he sees those numbers going higher because of demand. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott