3-24 IAN Milling Wheat

Mixed news on wheat coming out of various sources in the country. It’s kind of one of those who did you last talk to scenarios. I’m David Sparks and that story is next.

USDA’s March World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates or WASDE report showed no changes in corn or soybean stocks, but USDA did lower projections for U.S. wheat exports for the 2010-2011 marketing year by 25 million bushels from the February estimates. USDA forecasts increased global supplies of wheat, particularly in Australia, and a slower than expected pace of shipments into the final quarter of the wheat marketing year that ends May 31. So not great news on the wheat front according to that report. However, a recent conversation with Executive Director of the Idaho wheat commission Blaine Jacobson, reveals another side to the  equation. Here he is: “right now the United States continues to have the best quality milling wheat, there are pretty good stocks in Australia but they had all of those floods with a lot of rain damage and a lot of sprout damage and so even though they’ve got stocks it’s not the milling quality that a number of overseas customers are looking for. Because of the high prices some customers are trying to make to with lesser quality wheat but the big story right now is that the best quality milling wheat is in the United States.