The Wide World of Wheat from the Washington Wheat Commission

Anchor: And now from the Washington Wheat Commission comes "The wide world of wheat" grain industry headlines from around the world. India had record wheat production last year and they're on target to have a record production this year. The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation said wheat output is estimated to surpass 78 million tons. Last year's 78.57 million tons was the highest in history in India. Saudi Arabia, which recently gave up its goal of being self sufficient in wheat due to high water costs, has purchased 385,000 metric tons of wheat so far this marketing year, all of which has been Canadian origin. The USDA forecast in February that Saudi Arabia would import a total of 1.5 million metric tons during the 2009 calendar year. Ukraine's farm minister flew to Egypt recently to lobby government officials there to resume imports of Ukrainian wheat. Ukraine exported nearly 950,000 metric tons of wheat to Egypt between July and November 2008 when shipments were suspended because of poor quality. China's National Reform and Development Commission has said the country will increase farm support spending by 20 percent to $104 billion in 2009, including hiking the minimum purchase price of wheat. I'm Bob Hoff. Anchor: The Washington Wheat Commission wants growers and citizens alike to understand their industry has global reach. A pebble thrown anywhere in the world of grain is felt as ripples by Washington's 13,000 growers and their landlords.