wheat
Rogue GMO wheat found in Washington state; third U.S. discovery since April 2013
Genetically engineered wheat, developed by Monsanto but not approved for sale, was confirmed growing in the wild for the third time in a little more than three years, said the Agriculture Department, this time in a fallow field in Washington state.
US corn, wheat crops drive near-record world harvest
Corn production will surge by a hefty 5 percent worldwide, pushing global grain production to within shouting distance of the record set two years ago, said the International Grains Council. Bigger-than-expected wheat and corn crops in the United States will be a factor in the near-record harvest and an expansion in the season-ending "carry over" stocks for the fourth year in a row.
Spring wheat yields retreat to average level, say crop scouts
The U.S. hard red spring wheat crop, a variety used in flour for bread, will yield 45.7 bushels an acre, said crop scouts after a three-day tour of the northern Plains. At that rate, the yield would be on track with the five-year average forecast produced by the crop tour and well below the forecast of 49.9 bushels an acre that scouts calculated at the end of last year's pre-harvest tour, said Reuters.
Seed startup closes $100 million funding to tackle water scarcity
Seed startup Indigo said that it closed a $100 million Series C investment, the largest private equity financing in the agriculture technology sector. Indigo first came onto the map in February when it unveiled cotton seeds laced in probiotics that conserve water and help replenish the soil. With more funding, the company plans to expand research and launch its first line of probiotic wheat seeds.
Peanut residue in flour spurs snack recalls
Foodmakers pulled cookies, energy bars and pretzels from grocery shelves in a food recall prompted by the discovery of peanut residue in Grain Craft flour, the largest independent wheat miller in the U.S.
As wheat price falls, U.S. makes progress in export race
U.S. wheat exports are forecast for 900 million bushels this year, "up significantly from the previous year's depressed total," says USDA's monthly WASDE report. The United States would rank third among the wheat-exporting nations of the world, trailing the EU and Russia, and a step ahead of last year's fourth-place finish.
Crop outlook: Amid a boom, low-prices
If USDA agrees with analysts, its monthly crop report will say U.S. farmers are growing slightly more wheat and soybeans and marginally less corn than previously thought. One thing would not change in the report, due today at noon ET: a slump in commodity prices that began in 2014 is forecast to persist for years to come.
Yield-cutting fungus spreads through Wheat Belt
Wheat stripe rust, a fungal disease that can reduce yields by 40 percent, has "swept through fields from Oklahoma to Kansas up into the Dakotas and east into the Great Lakes states," says DTN. The disease arrived as the winter wheat crop nears harvest; USDA will update its estimate of the crop on Friday.
Big ARC payments are temporary cushion against low prices
Corn, soybean and wheat growers would receive significant payments — as high as $80 an acre for corn — under the insurance-like Agriculture Risk Coverage subsidy based on the low commodity prices now forecast, says Ohio State economist Carl Zulauf.
General Mills recalls 10 million pounds of flour in food illness probe
World heads for second-largest grains harvest ever
The outlook for wheat and corn crops in the major grain-growing countries of the world has improved by 10 million tonnes in the past month, said the International Grains Council in forecasting the second-largest global grain harvest ever. Despite an upturn in consumption, the grain carry-over at the end of 2016/17 would be a record 474 million tonnes, up 6 million tonnes from 2015/16, the current record.
DC veteran Goule to become Wheat Growers chief executive
Texas native Chandler Goule, a senior official at the National Farmers Union, will become chief executive of the National Association of Wheat Growers effective July 5, reports Agri-Pulse. The selection follows a suggestion by Jim Palmer, the departing NAWG leader, that the commodity group should recruit someone with experience in farm policy development and advocacy.
U.S. heads for record corn crop, price to fall for fourth year
Corn farmers are within reach of the largest U.S. crop ever grown, topping the 2014 record by more than 200 million bushels, USDA said in its first projections of the fall harvest.
U.S. wheat glut may top 1 billion bushels, in world awash in grain
American wheat growers are aiming for their smallest crop in a decade at the same time the U.S. stockpile is mushrooming and world wheat supplies are at record levels. USDA is scheduled to release one of its most important crop reports of the year today and for the first time since 1988, it may call for a price-depressing wheat carry-over of more than 1 billion bushels.
Crop tour sees big rebound in Kansas wheat output
April showers revived the winter wheat crop across Kansas, so the harvest may be one of the best ever, said crop scouts after a three-day assessment of conditions. They forecast a harvest of 382 million bushels, up 19 percent from 2015, said Bloomberg.
Massive corn crop, lowest market price in 10 years
If they take their cues from recent changes in the futures markets, U.S. farmers will plant slightly more soybeans and correspondingly less corn, says the think tank Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.
Kansas wheat tour the first step in crop-forecasting frenzy
Seven dozen crop scouts are to begin a hectic three-day motorized sprint across Kansas today, with the goal to sample roughly 500 fields and produce an estimate of the crop in the nation's No. 1 winter wheat state. Their estimate, expected at midday Thursday, will be the first in a shower of crop forecasts that will run through the fall harvest.
U.S. presses Canada for fairer wheat-grading system
Canada "essentially depresses the entire value" of U.S.-grown wheat that farmers want to sell north of the border, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in criticizing the grading system now in use.
Winter wheat condition improves as harvest nears
Half of the U.S. winter wheat crop was in good or excellent condition at the start of the week, a vast improvement from the drought-scarred 2023 crop, said the USDA's Crop Progress report on Monday. The USDA will make its first forecast of the harvest on Friday. Winter wheat usually accounts for three-quarters of all U.S. wheat production.