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A page of good news for wheat growers
A US Wheat Associates representative says there have been several headlines of good news for wheat growers the past couple of weeks.
Steve Mercer tells Brownfield ironically, much of the good news is from actions by China, where the coronavirus began. He says China recently purchased 12.5 million bushels of hard red winter wheat.
“That is the largest sale to China since China implemented its retaliatory tariffs in March of 2018. The market has really been waiting for that.”
China kept the momentum going Thursday with the purchase of another 17.8 million bushels between the current and next marketing year.
Back in the states, Mercer says consumer demand for bread, flour and pasta are way up which have lifted wheat prices.
“Is this going to be sustainable, this kind of demand? It is hard to tell. I mean, we know that the food service industry, which is a huge consumer of wheat foods, is also out of business right now.”
Mercer says the demand increase has not impacted their ability to serve the domestic or overseas markets because the US has an abundant supply of good quality wheat.
Interview with Steve Mercer
