10/10/07 Hard times continue for hard white wheat

Farm and Ranch October 10, 2007 Soft white wheat is king in the Pacific Northwest and soft white prices currently are above the levels of hard red wheat. But, in the long run: Mick: "In the long run if you look at the demand in the world hard wheat is dominating. And demand is growing faster for hard wheat than for soft white or soft red winter for that matter. There will always be some demand for the softer wheats but the increased demand will be in hard wheats and we need to find an alternative for our producers." That is Tom Mick CEO of the Washington Grain Alliance. He says there was an agreement for Taiwan to regularly include hard white wheat in its tenders but the industry just can't supply it because farmers aren't growing it. And Mick says hard white is struggling elsewhere in the U.S. too. Mick: "I did find out on a recent trip to Kansas that they are reevaluating their program and maybe cutting back on hard white because country elevator operators says they just can't get enough volume to satisfy a customer so they are not able to move it like they thought. It is a chicken and egg scenario of huge magnitude and we just don't know what to do at this point." The lack of interest in hard white by growers is a signal to wheat breeders too. At its meeting last month the Washington Wheat Commission learned that private wheat breeder AgriPro was reducing its emphasis on hard white wheat breeding. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.