10-31 IAN Nigerian Wheat
Checkoff work in Nigeria pays big dividends for U.S. wheat growers.I know this sounds pessimistic, but it is awfully difficult to find great economic news these days. There is however a caveat. Every time I turn around there is a nice story about a wheat and what a good job we are doing in Idaho as it relates to selling wheat to other countries. Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Mexico and now Nigeria.
The people of Nigeria are eating more bread, pasta, cookies and crackers each year thanks in part to U.S. wheat growers and the work of U.S. Wheat Associates. It’s a story that started nearly 25 years ago - when the Nigerian government instituted a ban on wheat imports - devastating the country’s flour milling industry. But U.S. Wheat Associates kept in close contact - and when the ban was lifted in 1992, U.S. Wheat Associates was first in line to help Nigerian millers and bakers rebuild and expand. Here is spokesman Gerald Theus: “when the ban was listed we already have a great rapport with Nigeria. They came right to the United States and the reason they came back to us was technical assistance, our trade servicing which was made possible by the farmers checkoff fund as well as producers producing good quality wheat.
