6-4 IAT Angering Mexico

 Mexico may have to look for wheat supplies somewhere other than Idaho.

 It has been reported that exports of Idaho wheat into Mexico have dropped dramatically in the period between January and March of this year. The reason for this fairly dramatic change is that feedlots that are finishing cattle have recognized that the price of corn is very high and they can beat corn prices by $.30-$.40 through a substitution of wheat. I asked a question of Dennis Brower, director of commodities for Idaho Farm Bureau Federation. “You never want to burn a steady customer. Is it possible that the Mexicans can take umbrage to the fact that our wheat supply in Idaho is coming to them in the way that they would like? They have a lot of different sources of wheat that they buy from and Idaho is more of a source where they look for quality to upgrade their suite, in other words they blend our good week into a lot of the poorer wheat that they get from other areas so they have to adjust what they are doing in their meals and they can continue to buy the poorer wheat and it is one of those things that they like it when they can get it but when they can’t, they make do. In my mind, as a proponent of the wheat producer and agriculture in general, that is good old-fashioned capitalism at work. Absolutely and we understand that. We would neither expect nor would we want to be selling our wheat into Mexico unless we can do it for a premium for our producers.