Iranian flour millers interested in PNW soft white wheat
Farm and Ranch March 24, 2011 Oman was the site for a recently held seminar for Iranian flour millers sponsored by the Oregon Wheat Commission and the Washington Grain Commission. Glen Squires, vice president of the Washington Grain Commission who went to Oman, says the meeting couldn’t be held in Iran so Oman was chosen and Omani flour mill representatives also attended. Squires says the Iranian millers were actively engaged during the seminar, which went longer than scheduled because of all the questions and discussions. Squires: “They really want to utilize the wheat. It makes good product. They love the fact that it has such a high extraction rate. It makes all of their flatbreads. There are four different kind of flatbreads are made and soft white is the wheat that is preferred.” Squires says the Iranian millers remembered soft white from prior to the Iranian revolution in the late 1970’s when Iran was a major buyer of PNW wheat. When Iran had a serious drought a couple of years ago the government did buy some U.S. soft white. Squires says the millers are tying to figure out how to import PNW soft white independently of the government. Squires: “And maybe there is a possibility of purchasing wheat through Oman. Through the Omani Flour Millers in conjunction with them in order to get the soft white into Iran.” Squires says a follow-up seminar should be held to include bakers as they can help drive demand for quality wheat. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.
