While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 made the global milling industry cautious in making capital investments, it also emphasized the importance of wheat production and flour milling. Suppliers who participated in World Grain’s annual milling projects survey said they started seeing recovery in larger-scale projects last year and the momentum is continuing through 2023.Consumer behaviors are changing with an emerging middle class around the world made up of people who will eat more on the go while still looking for less food waste. Health and wellness will play an important role in the future, including alternative proteins

Join NAWG’s advocacy campaign to engage with legislators on increasing Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) programs authorized in the Farm Bill. MAP’s authorized funding has not changed since 2006 and FMD funding has remained the same since 2002. Inflation and sequestration have significantly eroded our ability to compete with other countries who are steadily investing more in their agricultural export promotion efforts. Please visit NAWG’s website to participate in the grassroots efforts to make your voice heard.

Flour milling companies from nine European countries made up a delegation that visited Washington, D.C. Sept. 24-28 to learn about the 2023 U.S. wheat crop and developments involving global markets, trade policy and emerging technologies. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) hosted the team, providing a series of presentations by USW staff and representatives of partner organizations.

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) continued a tradition of promoting the value of U.S. agricultural products together with other USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator organizations by co-hosting the annual U.S. Agricultural Cooperators Conference Sept. 12 to 14, 2023, in Da Nang, Vietnam. This conference is designed as a value-added service for Southeast Asian buyers served by USW, and co-hosts U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC).

Donald Trump has proposed a 10% tariff on all imports and would also like the ability to impose reciprocal tariffs on any country that exceeds the 10% tariff level on imports from the U.S. Trump calls upon the ghosts of the Republican past for his policy, reminding those of us who’ve forgotten, and that would be all of us, that future president William McKinley had been responsible for a similar policy in 1890 during his time as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

President Joe Biden ordered federal agencies Wednesday to do a 120-day review of how they can help restore wild fish runs in the Columbia River, while supporting hydropower and benefits dams provide to agriculture. Environmental groups suing the U.S. government over dams welcomed the announcement, but urged the administration to go farther and plan to remove four dams on the Lower Snake River. The presidential directive didn't mention dam breaching. Kurt Miller, executive director of the pro-hydropower Northwest River Partners, said the order affirmed the multi-purpose importance of the dams.

In recent months, the future of the four Lower Snake River Dams has been cast into uncertainty. The Biden Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality and dam-breaching advocates have been involved in ongoing litigation against the Army Corps of Engineers, who control the operations of the dams, over the future of the dams. While they just secured a 60-day extension with the intent of achieving a “de facto” breach of the dams by opening the gates to reduce the water below the minimum operating levels for hydroelectric generation, they continue to ignore the stakeholders who will be most affected by their decision.ams