5-30 IAT Wheat to Mexico

 Feedlots get more of  Idaho’s wheat than Mexico.

 Mexico has traditionally been a great trading  partner for our wheat producers but things have changed a little bit because of the cost of corn. Here’s an example. Idaho sold a little over $700,000 in wheat to Mexico in the first quarter of this year. Same time period last year,  $5.97 million total. Did the Mexicans lose their appetite for our product? Dennis Brower, director of commodities for Idaho Farm Bureau Federation says absolutely not. It’s just that good old-fashioned capitalism was in play. “In the first quarter last year we had nearly 700,000 bushels of wheat that went to the feedlots because the corn price was so high and so the feedlots were buying wheat for $.30-$.40 above what the millers were buying it for and there was no discount so it was a no-brainer for the producers to sell to the feedlots. They were getting a premium for their wheat and there were no questions asked. What do you know about the nutritional value of wheat as opposed to corn in cattle? These feedlots have figured out that corn is more and so you have to figure the difference between the corn and the value of the corn and the price of the corn versus the suite, the feed value of the wheat and price of the week but at some point last year that crossed and it was less expensive to feed wheat.