Commission Meeting Set for August 31 The California Wheat Commission will meet at 10 am on August 31, 2010 at the California Farm Bureau building in Sacramento. Commissioners will consider recommendations from the Research Committee for additional research project funding, review harvest results and hear from Dana Peterson, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers. The Commission will also affirm the results of the recent grower and handler election and welcome new members to the Commission. The full agenda is posted on the CWC website. Wheat growers and other interested parties are welcome to attend the meeting. For further information, call the CWC office.
2010 Harvest Mostly Complete The California wheat harvest is mostly complete - the exception being the Klamath Basin where spring wheat will be harvested next month. Overall, the wheat crop was characterized by very high yields and variable protein. In addition to high yields in the irrigated areas (four tons per acre were not unusual), yields were also above normal for dry land wheat and green chop was lower than average.
The Commission's lab is currently hard at work testing samples for its annual crop quality surveys published in October. The results will be posted on our website; printed brochures in multiple languages will also be available upon request.
CWC in the News The recent decision by Russia to cancel its wheat exports for the balance of this year sent wheat prices sharply up. We received numerous calls from news organizations asking how this affects California wheat growers. Here are some excerpts of the coverage we have received:
Problems elsewhere lead to a ‘strange' wheat market. By Ching Lee. Ag Alert, August 11, 2010 With global wheat prices hitting a two-year high in recent days, many California farmers are taking advantage of the current strong market by contracting their crop for next year.
Yolo County grower Larry Hunn said he will be planting more wheat this fall because he has already sold much of his 2011 crop-at much higher prices than this year-even though he is just now finishing his 2010 harvest.
"This market is acting strange," he said. "Here we are at the end of harvest and our prices are continuing to go up. Historically, that doesn't happen. Normally as you get into harvest, you see prices drop." The run-up in wheat prices has been driven mostly by production problems in major wheat-exporting countries and fears of a supply shortfall. . . .
Clarksburg farmer places his bet on the world wheat market. By J. Wasserman, Sacramento Bee Saturday, 8/21/2010 With wheat prices soaring since Russia banned grain exports, farmers like Clarksburg's Larry Hunn are coolly calculating the odds of beating a most fickle of gambling dens: the world grain market. In past weeks, wheat prices have risen from $4 a bushel to about $7, grabbing the attention of everyone in America with a tractor, combine and acreage to plant. . . .
If wheat prices are higher than $7 when Hunn harvests his crop, he won't make as much money as he could have. But he knows $7 is a good price, and he's protected if the price slides backward again - as many suspect it might in a world that still holds a lot of wheat in its grain bins.
