02/16/06 A prediction about hard red wheats

Farm and Ranch February 16, 2006 If a prediction made by the newest member of the Washington Wheat Commission comes true, you will see a lot more hard red wheats being planted in Washington. At a recent commission meeting, Dana Herron, a seed merchandiser from Connell Grain Growers, said hard red wheat acreage in the state, which has been running at about eight to nine percent of total wheat acreage, could account for 25 percent of Washington production in five years. Herron: "Twenty-five percent of the total production in Washington state being red wheat is probably still a valid projection especially if the price spreads stay at current levels. If that spread narrows over time then it takes some of sizzle away from hard red winter wheats. But I think once growers learn a little about the agronomics and how to grow it, they will be sold on the value of hard red wheats." Market prices for hard red wheats are a dollar or more a bushel above soft white wheat, the predominate class grown in the region. Herron: "Red wheat is in demand right now world wide and soft white winter wheat is not in demand. It is a demand driven market and it looks like it is going to stay that way for at least a year. That is what is driving the market. People need to look long term. We have varieties now, improved genetics, that are showing increasing adaptability to high rainfall areas with good quality protein." The Wheat Commission had heard a report on research its funding at Washington State University looking into fertility and hard wheat protein. Herron: "We heard that by managing fertility, the timing of that fertility and the composition of that fertility, we can do a lot to ensure protein levels. So growers need to educate themselves a little bit. Standard practices are no longer going to make the grade." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.