A new website from the USDA for researchers working with one of the most important food crops on the planet.
GrainGenes Website Speeds Gene Discovery
By Marcia Wood
May 20, 2008
Even though there's much about wheat that's familiar and ordinary, one feature of this ancient crop—its genetic makeup—remains relatively unknown. In fact, the everyday wheat plant doesn't just have one genome; it has several. In all, wheat's genetic makeup is gargantuan and complex. And it isn't...(complete news release here).
Showing posts with label wheat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wheat. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Decline of U.S. Wheat Production
Shifting acres from wheat to corn and soybeans is changing the landscape of the Great Plains.
Emptying the breadbasket
Decades of Great Plains' wheat as king and low prices everywhere are over
By Dan Morgan
At Stephen Fleishman's busy Bethesda shop, the era of the 95-cent bagel is coming to an end.
Breaking the dollar barrier "scares me," said the Bronx-born owner of Bethesda Bagels. But with 100-pound bags of North Dakota flour now above $50 -- more than double what they were a few months ago -- he sees no alternative to a hefty increase in the price of his signature product, a bagel made by hand in the back of the store.
"I've never seen anything like this in 20 years," he said. "It's a nightmare."
Fleishman and his customers are hardly alone. Across America, turmoil in the world wheat markets has sent prices of bread, pasta, noodles, pizza, pastry and bagels skittering upward, bringing protests from consumers.
But underlying this food inflation are changes that are transforming U.S. agriculture and...(complete article here).
Emptying the breadbasket
Decades of Great Plains' wheat as king and low prices everywhere are over
By Dan Morgan
At Stephen Fleishman's busy Bethesda shop, the era of the 95-cent bagel is coming to an end.
Breaking the dollar barrier "scares me," said the Bronx-born owner of Bethesda Bagels. But with 100-pound bags of North Dakota flour now above $50 -- more than double what they were a few months ago -- he sees no alternative to a hefty increase in the price of his signature product, a bagel made by hand in the back of the store.
"I've never seen anything like this in 20 years," he said. "It's a nightmare."
Fleishman and his customers are hardly alone. Across America, turmoil in the world wheat markets has sent prices of bread, pasta, noodles, pizza, pastry and bagels skittering upward, bringing protests from consumers.
But underlying this food inflation are changes that are transforming U.S. agriculture and...(complete article here).
Friday, April 25, 2008
Complexity of the Global Food Crisis
The article linked below from the BBC is one of the more thoughtful that I've found on the "global food crisis." It discusses the complexity of issues that have contributed to rising food prices rather than seeking to place blame on a particular factor.
How to solve the global food crisis
By Kaushik Basu
Professor of economics, Cornell University
The world economy has many problems but none more pressing than what is happening to food prices.
There have been food riots in Haiti, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Indonesia and several other nations.
Twenty thousand desperate textile workers in Bangladesh went on a rampage, giving rise to fears of wider instability, since the garment industry accounts for three-fourths of the country's exports.
Global food prices have been rising over the last three years; but in the last few months they have spiralled out of control.
Over the last 12 months the...(complete article here).
How to solve the global food crisis
By Kaushik Basu
Professor of economics, Cornell University
The world economy has many problems but none more pressing than what is happening to food prices.
There have been food riots in Haiti, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Indonesia and several other nations.
Twenty thousand desperate textile workers in Bangladesh went on a rampage, giving rise to fears of wider instability, since the garment industry accounts for three-fourths of the country's exports.
Global food prices have been rising over the last three years; but in the last few months they have spiralled out of control.
Over the last 12 months the...(complete article here).
Friday, April 11, 2008
Human Behavior's Impact on Food Prices
Below is linked a thoughtful article on the rising price of basic food grains throughout the world. There is only one factor discussed with which I would take exception. That is the impact of biofuels on the prices of wheat and rice. Although there could arguably be a point at which competition for acres will impact production of these two crops, I do not believe that it has occurred at this point.
Traditionally, in the U.S., corn is primarily destined for cattle feed. In the southern part of the wheat growing areas of the country -- such as Texas and Oklahoma -- cattle often graze wheat pasture (stocker phase) prior to entering the feed lot for finishing. The cattle are removed from the wheat pasture at an early date so that the wheat can continue to mature and produce grain. These are complementary enterprises. With the high prices for corn due to competing demands from ethanol production, it would be assumed that cattle would remain in this stocker phase of production longer -- thus taking the wheat acreage out of harvest for grain. High prices for wheat have actually had the opposite effect. Farmers are electing to forego income from stocker cattle in the hopes of harvesting even more wheat from their planted acres. This is a purely economic decision on the part of the farmers who often lease their land to cattlemen for grazing.
My point is that in spite of the potential for ethanol production taking acreage away from wheat production, it has not in fact occurred due to other market factors. If allowed to operate, free enterprise will allocate resources in the most efficient manner possible. Rising food prices are certainly a part of that mechanism, but they are not the driving force. Fuel prices are driving the issue and they are a function of many factors. (see this post)
How Countries Worsen the Food Price Crisis
By Kent Garber
Since early 2007, when food prices began marching noticeably upward, there have been violent riots in more than a dozen countries, growing malaise in developed areas, including the United States, and a fluid debate about the origins of the spike. On the last point, a consensus has emerged. A slew of factors--record fuel prices, ethanol production, unprecedented demand, the effects of climate change--have been blamed, creating a sort of perfect storm for the world's food supply.
Although each merits attention, another culprit must now be added: the human reaction to the crisis.
Since the first of the year, additional jumps in food prices have bred not only uneasiness and widespread fear but also...(complete article here).
Traditionally, in the U.S., corn is primarily destined for cattle feed. In the southern part of the wheat growing areas of the country -- such as Texas and Oklahoma -- cattle often graze wheat pasture (stocker phase) prior to entering the feed lot for finishing. The cattle are removed from the wheat pasture at an early date so that the wheat can continue to mature and produce grain. These are complementary enterprises. With the high prices for corn due to competing demands from ethanol production, it would be assumed that cattle would remain in this stocker phase of production longer -- thus taking the wheat acreage out of harvest for grain. High prices for wheat have actually had the opposite effect. Farmers are electing to forego income from stocker cattle in the hopes of harvesting even more wheat from their planted acres. This is a purely economic decision on the part of the farmers who often lease their land to cattlemen for grazing.
My point is that in spite of the potential for ethanol production taking acreage away from wheat production, it has not in fact occurred due to other market factors. If allowed to operate, free enterprise will allocate resources in the most efficient manner possible. Rising food prices are certainly a part of that mechanism, but they are not the driving force. Fuel prices are driving the issue and they are a function of many factors. (see this post)
How Countries Worsen the Food Price Crisis
By Kent Garber
Since early 2007, when food prices began marching noticeably upward, there have been violent riots in more than a dozen countries, growing malaise in developed areas, including the United States, and a fluid debate about the origins of the spike. On the last point, a consensus has emerged. A slew of factors--record fuel prices, ethanol production, unprecedented demand, the effects of climate change--have been blamed, creating a sort of perfect storm for the world's food supply.
Although each merits attention, another culprit must now be added: the human reaction to the crisis.
Since the first of the year, additional jumps in food prices have bred not only uneasiness and widespread fear but also...(complete article here).
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Australian Wheat Woes
Australia is one of the most important wheat producing countries in the world. The drought there has had a profound impact on worldwide supplies and prices.
Australia's food bowl lies empty
As the BBC looks at the impact of rising food prices around the world, Sydney correspondent Nick Bryant reports from Australia on how the worst drought on record has slashed its exports of wheat.
Though located in a remote corner of the planet, the fields of Australia's food bowl are central to the worldwide price of wheat.
In this part of rural New South Wales, water-starved farms and cavernous empty grain silos have the...(complete article here).
Australia's food bowl lies empty
As the BBC looks at the impact of rising food prices around the world, Sydney correspondent Nick Bryant reports from Australia on how the worst drought on record has slashed its exports of wheat.
Though located in a remote corner of the planet, the fields of Australia's food bowl are central to the worldwide price of wheat.
In this part of rural New South Wales, water-starved farms and cavernous empty grain silos have the...(complete article here).
Thursday, December 20, 2007
USDA's Chuck Conner on 2008 Outlook
The market works if we let it.
USDA's Conner: Crop supplies "dicey" in 2008
By Charles Abbott
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farmers will win the race to grow enough corn, wheat and soybeans to satisfy food, feed and biofuel needs although 2008 will be "very dicey," said acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner on Thursday.
"I would never bet against our farmers on this issue," Conner said in looking ahead to 2008 crops. For the second year in a row, zooming demand for U.S. crops will require...(complete article here).
Cattle feeders are facing a tough year in 2008. Because of the limited fall and winter grazing, calves went to the feed lots earlier and lighter than normal. It will create a wall of beef going to the packer next summer and a hole in feeder cattle supplies. The market will go crazy.
USDA's Conner: Crop supplies "dicey" in 2008
By Charles Abbott
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farmers will win the race to grow enough corn, wheat and soybeans to satisfy food, feed and biofuel needs although 2008 will be "very dicey," said acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner on Thursday.
"I would never bet against our farmers on this issue," Conner said in looking ahead to 2008 crops. For the second year in a row, zooming demand for U.S. crops will require...(complete article here).
Cattle feeders are facing a tough year in 2008. Because of the limited fall and winter grazing, calves went to the feed lots earlier and lighter than normal. It will create a wall of beef going to the packer next summer and a hole in feeder cattle supplies. The market will go crazy.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
WSMV Resistant Wheat
Scientists Set to Release New Disease-Resistant Wheat
By Jan Suszkiw
December 4, 2007
'Mace', a new winter wheat cultivar developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators, could give growers an added measure of insurance against outbreaks of wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV).
According to ARS plant geneticist Robert Graybosch, Mace harbors a gene called Wsm-1 that confers resistance to the virus, which is spread by the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella.
Spraying pesticide to prevent the mite from feeding and transmitting WSMV isn't particularly effective, so growers typically resort to...(complete article here).
By Jan Suszkiw
December 4, 2007
'Mace', a new winter wheat cultivar developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators, could give growers an added measure of insurance against outbreaks of wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV).
According to ARS plant geneticist Robert Graybosch, Mace harbors a gene called Wsm-1 that confers resistance to the virus, which is spread by the wheat curl mite, Aceria tosichella.
Spraying pesticide to prevent the mite from feeding and transmitting WSMV isn't particularly effective, so growers typically resort to...(complete article here).
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Outlook for Australian Wheat
The wheat outlook for Australia is dismal.
Dried up, washed out, fed up
Oct 4th 2007 GULARGAMBONE
From The Economist print edition
An inaccurate weather forecast brings disaster for many
WHEN rains fell in May after 11 dry years in a row, Bruce Crafter borrowed from his bank to sow a wheat crop on the family farm where he grew up in western Victoria. Like thousands of Australian farmers who have watched their livelihoods wither away under the country's worst drought in a century, Mr Crafter was encouraged by forecasts of follow-up spring rains in September. He sold one-third of his expected bumper crop on the futures market. But the rains never arrived, and the crops that promised salvation have failed. With no intended irony, Mr Crafter says: “We've been washed out.”
“Wash-out” is the term farmers are using to describe the contracts they can no longer fulfil. Australia is one of the world's biggest wheat exporters. The crop underpins the country's outback farming belt. After recent glitches to wheat supplies in North America...(complete article here).
The pressure on global wheat stocks remains high and prices will remain high as well.
Dried up, washed out, fed up
Oct 4th 2007 GULARGAMBONE
From The Economist print edition
An inaccurate weather forecast brings disaster for many
WHEN rains fell in May after 11 dry years in a row, Bruce Crafter borrowed from his bank to sow a wheat crop on the family farm where he grew up in western Victoria. Like thousands of Australian farmers who have watched their livelihoods wither away under the country's worst drought in a century, Mr Crafter was encouraged by forecasts of follow-up spring rains in September. He sold one-third of his expected bumper crop on the futures market. But the rains never arrived, and the crops that promised salvation have failed. With no intended irony, Mr Crafter says: “We've been washed out.”
“Wash-out” is the term farmers are using to describe the contracts they can no longer fulfil. Australia is one of the world's biggest wheat exporters. The crop underpins the country's outback farming belt. After recent glitches to wheat supplies in North America...(complete article here).
The pressure on global wheat stocks remains high and prices will remain high as well.
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