U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) in cooperation with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service welcomed close to 200 guests to a South and Southeast Asian Marketing Conference May 9 to 11 in Phuket, Thailand. This was the first such conference in that region since 2012 and comes at a challenging time for the milling and wheat foods business. “It was great to have everyone back together again,” said Joe Sowers, USW Regional Vice President. Idaho Wheat Executive Director Britany Hurst Marchant, and Commission Chair Clark Hamilton were among the those who participated in the conference.

May is mental health awareness month, and Mental Health America invites you to look around and look within to learn about how your surroundings can impact mental health.

Winter wheat conditions barely improved this week, up 2% in the combined good or excellent categories to 28% and this is just ahead of the year ago 27%.

Just two generations ago, it seemed like everyone either lived on a farm or a ranch, or they knew someone who did. But today, as the number of farm operations, and even acres used for agriculture, continue to fall, that connection is fading.

Chicago wheat closed 9 1/2 cents higher, Kansas City wheat closed 13 1/2 cents higher and Minneapolis wheat 4 1/4 cents higher. Private exporters did not announce any export sales.

Wheat and corn futures steadied after Wednesday’s jump, as markets weigh up escalating tensions in the Black Sea region against burgeoning global supply. Ukraine’s president on Wednesday denied Russian allegations that its government organized an attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Kremlin. The flare-up adds to uncertainty over whether the safe corridor that allows Ukraine to export crops through the Black Sea will be extended beyond May and boosted wheat futures from a two-year low.

After three consecutive years of record-setting wheat crops in Australia, production in marketing year 2023-24 is forecast to dip 25% from the previous year to what would still be the fourth largest total over the last 10 years, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture.