02/09/05 Hard white wheat fertility brochure

Farm and Ranch February 9, 2005 Follow up meetings to that hard white wheat conference sponsored last fall by the three northwest wheat commissions, have concluded that getting the proper protein is the single biggest problem to overcome in making the region a player in the domestic and export markets for hard white wheat. The minimum protein content target is 12 percent. Tom Mick, Washington Wheat Commission CEO, says people from fertilizer dealers to elevator managers to an exporter participated in the meetings. Mick: "We are finding out that with the right production management practices and a proven fertilizer application program, you can obtain the protein level in most areas. In the high rain fall areas you might run into cost factors that might be limiting." Mick says one meeting with production people and a fertilizer dealer zeroed in on all the research that has been done. Mick: "What's very pleasing about this, they all agreed to share their information and pool it and put into a brochure, which we the Washington Wheat Commission hope to publish and have available for this spring's crop." Mick says right now there are only spring hard white wheats. Mick: "What we need, and there is no question, is a winter variety, but we will address the springs now and push very hard to get a winter variety soon. But we feel with the right production management and the proper applications of N at the right time, we can create that critical mass of higher protein wheat that will lead to a very good success story." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.