Adams County Wheat Growers taking steps to expand into the international market

The Adams County Wheat Growers Association discussed expanding their market along with conversation about the Farm Bill to present to legislators at their meeting on Thursday, Oct. 27, at the Ritzville Club House.

Washington Grain Commission Chairman Mike Miller informed the group the organization has stayed neutral on marketing for this year.

However, the research portion of the group took a 10 percent cut across the board.

Miller announced the commission would continue maintaining the current market plan they have in place and work on building it as well. Expanding and building the market in the wheat industry is a long generational process, Miller explained.

Currently, the commission is focused on improving their business relationship and distribution with Indonesia. Due to recent demands in expanding western culture and foods, Indonesia has taken an interest in importing additional product from the United States.

Miller said the distribution to the country would start out slow, but hopefully end up being very successful over time.

Indonesia has expressed interest for soft white wheat in order to provide western cultured products. Due to an abundance of U.S. wheat in storage, Miller said the additional business would not only benefit the farmers financially for this year, but also build on a batter market for future harvests.

The Philippines, Korea and Japan are currently the industry’s top customers.

Improving business with these countries could set the bar for the next generation for the distribution of soft white wheat, he added.

The current successor of the Flour Millers Association in the Philippines is close to retirement and to maintain the relationship, Miller said the Washington Grain Commission is planning to travel to the Philippines this winter to meet with the new successor.

Miller informed the group the commission is currently looking into building a business relationship with Latin America as well for the production of soft red and white wheat.

Due to an immense amount of competition with other countries with these classes of wheat, the industry plans to strengthen their marketing techniques by better assisting their buyers in understanding the quality and value of their product.

One of the United States’ largest advantages in the wheat industry is the massive infrastructure for storage and transport, said Miller. This strength allows the country to remain one of the top wheat exporters in the world, along with the admired quality of the product.

Some members of the group questioned if the current low prices of Pacific Northwest wheat are affecting their market share. Miller reminded the group their customers are loyal and should continue to purchase wheat from them due to the increased desire for the quality of product the Pacific Northwest provides.

Miller informed the group, the wheat sales are currently up 43 percent in soft wheat sales from 2015 as reported on Oct. 29. He asked the group if they believe the U.S. Wheat Associate’s marketing focus is in the right areas and if there is anything in need of improvement.

The group agreed the main focus should be expanding their market and seeking new customers, which as Miller explained, is the industry’s top priority already.

He encouraged the group to support the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is a multinational trade agreement currently being discussed by Congress.

The agreement would benefit the farmers and small businesses of the U.S. by eliminating more than $18,000 in taxes and other trade barriers on the distribution of American made products across the 11 countries involved in the agreement.

Washington Association Executive Director Michelle Hennings presented the group with the Washington’s Association of Wheat Growers 2016 proposed resolutions, which they present to the National Association of Wheat Growers based in Washington D.C. each year.

Discussions were held on the future of the 2018 Farm Bill and how the wheat growers would like to be at the table for negotiations.

Hennings asked the group for their opinions on improvements and additions to the bill. The group decided they would like to add a price guarantee on their products for their crop insurance in order to establish protection.

Currently, the program reacts if the price of the product decreases so does the coverage.

The group agreed this is an unfair practice because they cannot control the demand and price of their product yields.

She then informed the group the Actual Production History (APH) of the association is being affected by the recent falling numbers.

APH is used by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to determine appropriate production levels for the producer. They record this information by observing records of the agricultural producer’s crop yields over a multi-year period.

The recent falling numbers have negatively affected the association’s APH and one of Henning’s top priorities with the Farm Bill is to adjust the APH, she stated. The bill would not go into affect until 2018, she added.

During their normal business updates, the group decided to pay the dues of five new members to the association for their first year in attempt to recruit more farmers in the county.

They encouraged all other counties involved in the association to do the same.