Archive for August, 2021

LONDON, ENGLAND – Projected global wheat production in 2021-22 has been cut by the International Grains Council to 782 million tonnes, down 6 million tonnes from the group’s July 29 forecast but still up 1.2% from 773 million tonnes in 2020-21.

The Council attributed the cut from last month to smaller projections for wheat production in Canada, Russia and the United States. At 782 million tonnes, the global wheat crop still would be the largest ever.

The 2022 wheat carryover forecast also ...

KANSAS CITY — When it comes to wheat, there are many approaches to assessing quality, including protein content, enzymatic activity and even physical properties. What may be high quality for one application may not be for another, making valuation of flour complicated for even the most experienced baker. It is, however, paramount for bakers to be aware of variations from one flour shipment to the next to ensure batch-to-batch consistency.

“Quality and consistency in ingredients are crucial to baking,” said Reuben ...

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Wheat flour is ubiquitous. It is something we simply take for granted, much like the air we breathe.

One of the many lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is how valuable common, inexpensive, non-perishable food items such as flour can be during a crisis of this magnitude.

As we hopefully are starting to distance ourselves from the worst period of the pandemic and reflect on its impact with more clarity, the herculean effort of the flour milling ...

Grain dust explosions and stored grain fires remain frequent causes of severe damage to and loss of facility structures, equipment and inventory. Tragically, employees are often injured and killed.

Purdue University catalogues the annual number of deaths and injuries from grain dust explosions in the United States. In 2020, eight incidents occurred, nine people were injured but fortunately there were no fatalities. The 10-year average for explosions is 8.1 with 8.1 injuries and 1.7 fatalities. During the past decade, dust explosions ...

WASHINGTON, US, DC — The US Department of Agriculture on Aug. 12 lowered its forecasts for 2021-22 US and world wheat ending stocks. Wheat futures posted wide gains in response to the new projections that lowered US and world supplies more than markets had anticipated.

The USDA forecast the US carryover of wheat on June 1, 2022, at 627 million bushels, down 38 million bushels from the July projection and down 217 million bushels, or 26%, from 844 million bushels in ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — Ample domestic supplies, tighter exportable supplies from competitors and strong global demand have combined to push Indian exports for rice and wheat to their highest levels in several years, according to an International Agricultural Trade Report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“India has re-emerged as an exporter due to significant production and trade disruptions for other major exporters,” the USDA said. “As exporter grain prices escalated with strong global import ...

MADRID, SPAIN — A jump in winter grains production is expected to reduce Spain’s import demand, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

For the second year in a row, favorable weather conditions have led to a strong winter grains crop. Spain is expected to produce 24 million tonnes of grain in the 2021-22 marketing year.

The USDA expects the larger crop to decrease Spain’s grain imports to 13 million tonnes in ...