The first U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Latin American and Caribbean Wheat Buyers’ Conference since 2018 was a major success, with more than 150 buyers, traders and logistics professionals coming together in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to meet representatives of the U.S. wheat industry – including a handful of producers.

The Idaho Wheat Commission (IWC) takes a wheat variety survey twice a year, spring and winter, to gather data on variety usage. The survey takes just under two minutes to complete. Your responses are anonymous and aggregated across multi-county reporting districts.Click the link below to complete the survey

The value of crop insurance was illustrated recently in the far southeastern corner of Idaho, where a wave of sudden hail and rain storms pounded some fields of wheat that were ready for harvest. Farmer Cory Kress peered out the windshield of his combine Aug. 5 as ominous storm clouds gathered. Kress estimated his area received 2.5 inches of rain from several storms the week of Aug. 7. The average rainfall in his area is about 15 inches a year.

The livelihoods of thousands of farmers would be put at risk if the four lower Snake River dams are breached, a new study says. The study from the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association examined the economic, environmental and social justice impacts associated with breaching the dams, long targeted by environmental groups and tribes seeking endangered salmon recovery. Twelve counties — six in Washington, five in Idaho and one in Oregon — would be directly impacted by removal of the dams, according to the report, issued Aug. 13. About 7,644 farms in the affected area generate approximately $2 billion in annual sales.

This summer’s wheat harvest is finally coming to a close in Kansas after weeks of delays, and it’s the smallest crop for the state since 1966. Farmers were up against weather-related challenges this year. Wheat needs a lot of moisture when it’s planted in the fall and actively growing in the spring. However, in the summer, it needs to be dry for harvesting. This year, the weather did opposite of what was needed.

Chicago wheat rose around 2% on Monday as global supply concerns intensified, spurred by fears of an escalation of attacks on Black Sea shipping after a Ukrainian strike on a Russian tanker. “Wheat is being supported by increased risks from the Black Sea war with the Ukrainian attack on a Russian merchant ship over the weekend following the attack on Novorossiysk on Friday,” said Matt Ammermann, StoneX commodity risk manager.

There is a strong likelihood that the Canada durum crop especially, and possibly the U.S. durum crop, may not produce enough durum to meet the demands of the countries that normally import durum for their pasta needs. In the July 12 Crop Production report, USDA said durum production in 2023 was forecast at 54 million bushels (mb), down 9.9 mb, or 16%, from 64 mb in 2022.