08/08/05 Hard White Wheat

Boyd Schwieder got some seed through the Idaho Wheat Commission in 1995 and planted some hard white wheat. He planted every year since and now he's fully into it with 350 acres growing near Idaho Falls. SCHWIEDER "I'm hoping that producers will start to raise a little bit more of that so that we can service that foreign market that's waiting for us." Idaho Wheat Commission Chairman Blaine Jacobson says Idaho ranks sixth in the nation in hard white wheat production with about 39 thousand acres. Jacobsen says Idaho in a good spot because we're close to Portland and can serve a growing foreign market need. JACOBSON "Asian noodles and other products over there. The other opportunity that we have is the fact that we can grow hard white in a controlled environment and we can manage the sprouting problem a little bit better than Kansas and Colorado, Oklahoma can." But there are also some big shipping hurdles which Jacobson says have to change or we'll lose overseas market share. JACOBSON "The West Coast exporters are geared to volume. They are somewhat reluctant to separate it out." And another issue, what do you do with the lower protein level wheat? More about hard white wheat tomorrow. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott