Colorado Wheat Group Optimistic

Colorado Wheat Group Optimistic

Maura Bennett
Maura Bennett
On the heels of a very positive grains report for 2018 Colorado Winter Wheat production the Colorado Wheat growers and their representatives are cautious about current plantings due to dry conditions. But they are optimistic about trade and future prices for growers.

Brad Erker Executive Director of the combined Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee, Colorado Association of Wheat Growers , and Colorado Wheat Research Foundation says the partial trade deal signed with Japan will win back benefits for American farmers . Japan imports a lot of Soft White wheat and Hard Red Spring Wheat

ERKER: “But they also import a lot of Hard Red Winter which is the class we produce in Colorado. They do most of that out of the Pacific NW and Montana but anything that helps deplete this big supply that we have in the world of Hard Red Winter Wheat is a positive for the price. The price is quite low right now. That was good news on the trade front to get that deal signed with Japan.”

The Japanese parliament is expected to sign off on the deal by the end of the year.

ERKER: “The next big thing for us is to get USMCA passed. Mexico is a big importer of Hard Red Winter Wheat. And a lot of that by rail directly out of Colorado and other Great Plains states straight down into Mexico. So that deal has been negotiated. It’s just awaiting approval by Congress. We just keep pushing at the state level and the national level to encourage Congress to get past any remaining issues they have with the agreement itself.”

More from Colorado Wheat’s Brad Erker in our next report.

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