Club wheat as feed
Farm and Ranch September 30, 2011 Just a few years ago Pacific Northwest club wheat was bringing astronomical price premiums over common soft white wheat. There is no premium now. In fact this subclass of soft white that makes a high quality flour for specific products is so abundant in supply now that it is being sold for feed. Tom Mick, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission has never seen that before. Mick: “And the country elevator operators have so much club they are looking for alternative markets. And since it is getting the same price as soft white it is going into the feed market. In my career I have hardly ever seen club sold as feed wheat. But that is the situation we have. And it is our understanding that because of the stripe rust resistance club has many farmers have planted it again for next year. They feel if they get the same price for soft white and the same yield they haven‘t lost anything. If there is an outside chance there is a premium that is just extra money in their pocket. So we have a unique situation I have never faced in my career in the wheat industry.” More wheat is being fed both in the U.S. and around the world this year because of the high price of corn. Ty Jessup, an exporter representative on the Washington Grain Commission, told that group’s meeting this week that normally about ten million bushels of northwest wheat goes into feed channels annually but this year that volume is likely to be 20 to 30 million bushels. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net. ? ? ?
