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. Pakistan’s wheat production has been raised to more than 24 million metric tons, causing Asia’s third largest wheat producer to consider exporting grain. The government plans to make the decision about exports after 50 percent of its harvest is half complete sometime in May. Pakistan consumes about 22 million metric tons of grain while another 1 million metric tons finds its way into Afghanistan and Iran. China plans to give farmers subsidies to build grain storage facilities. After five consecutive big grain harvests and a grain purchase program designed to support prices, storage facilities are overwhelmed. The idea behind the subsidy program is that by building newer storage facilities less grain will be wasted and farmers can hold it until the price is right. The World Instant Noodle Association reports a 66 percent increase in the production of the easy-to-use wheat noodles over the last five years. Introduced in Japan 51 years ago, more than 100 billion instant noodle meals have been consumed around the world. The Japanese voted instant noodles as their country’s No. 1 contribution to the world in the 20th Century, ahead of the compact disk player and even karaoke. 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.