Oklahoma wheat brief

              Brief
OA Pukblicatioln of athe Okhlahomao Wheatm Commissioan Wheat Winter 2011
Taiwan Goodwill Mission to Purchase
Oklahoma Wheat
A d e l e g a t i o n o f
R e p u b l i c o f C h i n a
(Taiwan) wheat trade
o f f i c i a l s w e r e i n
Oklahoma this past
September to sign a Joint
Communiqué for the
intent to purchase U.S.
wheat in the upcoming
marketing year.
The Taiwan Flour
Millers Association
(TFMA ) intends to
purchase a total of 1.7
million metric tons
(equivalent to 62.5
million bushels) of wheat
during 2011 and 2012.
The purchase will
amount to an estimated
$484.5 million of U.S.
and Oklahoma Wheat.
Governor Mary
Fallin and Secretary of
Agriculture Jim Reese
met with the 2011
Agricultural Trade
G o o d w i l l Mi s s i o n
delegation in the Blue
Room of the State
Capitol. The Governor,
Executive Director of
the Oklahoma Wheat
Commission, Mike
Schulte and TFMA
Executive Director
Oklahoma State University Wheat Improvement
Team Constantly Enhancing Crop Varieties
Drought resistance, disease resistance, producing both
quality and quantity: all are desired traits of new wheat
varieties produced on behalf of producers and related
agribusiness operators by the Oklahoma State University
Wheat Improvement Team (WIT).
“Access to genetically improved cultivars with
marketable grain quality that stand the best chance of
weathering Oklahoma’s often-harsh growing conditions
is the lifeblood of the state’s wheat industry,” said Brett
Carver, WIT leader and holder of OSU’s wheat genetics
chair. “It’s no small challenge.”
Point in fact: Wheat and other “general crops” such as
soybeans, cotton and hay accounted for approximately
$905 million in lost agricultural production from
Oklahoma’s excessive and historic 2011 drought.
Wheat harvested in Oklahoma totaled 166.5 million
bushels in 2008, 77 million bushels in 2009, 120.9 million
bushels in 2010 and 74.8 million bushels in 2011.
“It’s been quite a roller-coaster ride for our state wheat
producers, and not the fun kind; they need to plant the
best adapted crop for their area, which underscores the
importance of the work being conducted by our WIT
researchers,” said Clarence Watson, associate director
of the statewide Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment
Station system.
Watson pointed out that the continued improvement
of wheat cultivars is more heavily dependent than other
crops on public research like that done at the nation’s
land-grant universities.
Three of the top four wheat varieties planted in
Oklahoma for the 2011 crop year were developed by
WIT scientists: Endurance, the most popular variety
with 18.9 percent of total wheat acres planted; Duster,
the second-most popular variety with 16.6 percent; and
OK-Bullet, the fourth-most planted variety accounting
for 7.2 percent of total acres.
Continued on page 3
Continued on page 3
Signing the agreement is I-Tsung Chen, Executive Director Taiwan Flour
Mills Association and Mike Schulte, Executive Director Oklahoma Wheat
Commission. Watching closely is Joseph Chen, Director General Taipei
Economic & Cultural Office in Houston; Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin.
Winter-2011.indd 1 11/21/2011 12:05:13 PM
Oklahoma Wheat Brief Page 2
From the Chairman
This publication was printed by Quality
Printing and issued by the Oklahoma
Wheat Commission as authorized by
70 O.S. 1981, § 14-104, as amended. 9,000
copies have been prepared and distributed at
a cost of $1,897. Copies have been deposited
with the Publications Clearinghouse of the
Oklahoma Department of Libraries.
The Oklahoma Wheat
Commission promotes
greater utilization of wheat
in domestic and international
markets through research,
market development and
public education. Oklahoma
producers fund such efforts
through a 1½ cent per bushel
checkoff.
Board of Commissioners
Tom Stephens, District 2 Chairman
Guymon (580) 338 - 7977
Tom Glazier, District 3 Vice Chairman
Loyal (405) 729 - 4429
Don Schieber, District 5 Sec./Treas.
Ponca City (580) 363 - 1950
Kenneth Failes, District 1 Member
Cherokee (580) 596 - 6168
Staff
Oklahoma Wheat Brief
is published quarterly by the
Oklahoma Wheat Commission
3800 N. Classen Blvd., Suite C40
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Phone: (405) 608-4350
Fax: (405) 848-0372
e-mail:
Oklahoma Wheat Commission
at work for Oklahoma’s wheat producers.
Mike Schulte...............Executive Director
Fonda Gentry.............Business Manager
Amanda Stierwalt.....Director of Marketing
Communications
Tom Stephens, Chairman
Sincerely,
Hello Again!
With fall planting over it looks like we
have the possibility of having a wheat crop in
most regions of the state, if we can continue
to get timely rains. As I write this article
on November 16, 2011, the crop outlook
seems to be more positive for 2012 than
what we first thought a few months ago. I
know getting the crop out has not been easy
for most producers. It seems we had early
plantings that finally got the right rains to
bring up decent stands and then we have the
later plantings that are finally starting to look better. It is amazing but in
most areas of the state producers were trying to bring this crop up on less
than 6/10ths to one inch of moisture. We certainly have a lot to be thankful
for with our drought tolerant releases from Oklahoma State University.
Fortunately we have had some more rains to keep the crop sustained but sub-moisture
continues to be a major concern for everyone this coming season!
On the trade front President Obama has signed three long awaited trade
agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The President has
submitted these agreements to Congress and they currently have broad
bipartisan support. These agreements will be important to the Oklahoma
wheat producer, although this process will still take some time before they
go into effect. The agreements must now go through an implementation
process to activate them, known as entering force. As recently as 2007/2008,
70 percent of Colombia’s total annual wheat imports came from the U.S.
farmer. U.S. sales have fallen since then to a low of 46 percent of total
imports. At the same time Canada negotiated and ratified an FTA with
Colombia that entered into force in August, allowing Canadian wheat to
enter Colombia duty free.
Since June, Canadian wheat exports to Colombia have doubled versus last
year while U.S. wheat exports have fallen 20 percent. It will be important
for the U.S. Colombia FTA to be implemented quickly to get our tariffs to
zero and put us back on equal footing with Canadian wheat. The FTAs with
Panama and South Korea also eliminate duties and allow us to be in better
positions to expand our export markets. The U.S. continues to be the world’s
largest wheat exporter offering customers around the globe a reliable, high
quality supply of all six wheat classes. In the 2010/2011 marketing year,
ended May 31, 2011, the U.S. exported nearly 1.3 billion bushels of wheat
valued at $10.3 billion, supporting thousands of jobs and economic benefits
across the country.
As we continue to develop, maintain, and expand international markets
to enhance the profitability of Oklahoma and U.S. Wheat--it seems our
work is never done! The activities we support with marketing programs at
a national level with U.S. Wheat Associates would not be possible without
your producer support. We continue to pursue an aggressive trade agenda
since each year we typically send about one half of our crop overseas. As
always the Oklahoma Wheat Commission looks forward to working in
partnership with you and appreciates the producer support that funds our
continued work for increased wheat marketing.
okwheat@wheat.state.ok.us
Debbie Wedel.............Executive Secretary
Winter-2011.indd 2 11/21/2011 12:05:13 PM
Oklahoma Wheat Brief Page 3
Wheat Improvement (continued from page 1)
Jagger, an older variety developed
by Kansas State University and
a longtime favorite amongst
Oklahoma producers, fell to third
place in 2011, accounting for 10
percent of total planted wheat acres.
Jagger accounted for 40.8 percent
of Oklahoma wheat acres in 2007.
In 2011, two new OSU developed
wheat varieties were made
available: Garrison and Ruby Lee.
In 2011-2012, these new releases
can be viewed in the OSU Wheat
Variety Trials conducted by WIT
scientist Jeff Edwards.
G a r r i s o n h a s s t a t e w i d e
a d a p t a b i l i t y a n d p r o d u c e d
consistently good yields over a
5-year test period. It has excellent
tolerance to acidic soils and matures
relatively late and thus misses
early spring freezes. Garrison has
good tolerance to fusarium head
blight, a disease that can hurt grain
yields grown in a wheat-corn crop
rotation. The variety is considered
to be a replacement for Endurance
with better disease resistance, test
weight and good protein.
Ruby Lee also has statewide
adaptability plus superior yield
potential and outstanding milling
and baking characteristics. It
produces a high test weight and
large kernel size, is earlier to mature
than Endurance and is an excellent
fall forage-producing variety.
In a normal year, Oklahoma
producers plant about 2.5 million
acres of “dual-purpose wheat,”
which are used for livestock grazing
during the fall and winter months
and then are harvested for grain by
early summer.
“Ruby Lee is an alternative to the
high-production levels of Billings
where soils have a pH level more
than 5.5, with better cold tolerance
and dual-purpose yields,” Carver
said.
Carver and his fellow wheat
breeders with OSU’s Division
of Agricultural Sciences and
Natural Resources were concerned
that drought conditions would
make data scarce this year for
many varieties. Instead, the team
members’ thoughts about many
varieties’ drought tolerance were
confirmed.
“Many of the varieties that have
Duster in their parentage continued
to shine, combining relatively
good drought tolerance with strong
disease resistance,” he said. “But
as great as these varieties are, we
can do better. That is the land-grant
university mission. It’s who we are
and what we do.”
This article is published on
Oklahoma State University’s
Division of Agriculture Sciences and
Natural Resources Website, written
by Donald Stotts, Agricultural
Communications Specialist.
I-Tsung Chen co-signed the Joint
Communiqué.
In 2010 Taiwan ranked the sixth
largest market for U.S. agricultural
products, the seventh largest
market for U.S. wheat, and the
world’s second largest consumer
of U.S. agricultural products per
capita. Taiwan has organized
seven agricultural trade missions
since 1998. Much of this wheat
they are looking to purchase is
hard red winter wheat originating
from the Southern Plains. TFMA
imports wheat on behalf of all
26 Taiwanese flour mills and
has purchased about 450 million
bushels of U.S. wheat worth more
than $2.5 billion since 1998. That
represents about 80 percent of its
imported wheat needs.
On average over the past five
years, Taiwan has imported about
33 million bushels (910,000 metric
tons) of U.S. wheat each year. The
Taiwanese are looking more into
the use of hard red winter wheat
with high proteins and strong
gluten flour for breads, rolls and
frozen dough products, to make
traditional Chinese flour foods
and noodles. Soft white imports,
including western white, help
meet growing demand for cake,
cookie and pastry flours.
Oklahoma Wheat Commission
Executive Director, Mike Schulte
said, “We have been happy to
host the trade organization that is
facilitating the delegations visit.”
According to Schulte, “U.S.
Wheat Taiwan Country Director
Ron Lu and his Taipei-based
staff have an excellent working
relationship with TFMA and the
Taiwan baking industry. Just like
in the United States, interest in
using whole grains for bread and
noodle consumption is growing.
Our goal in the future will be to
provide technical assistance and
education to millers and bakers
to help them produce high quality
whole wheat products made from
Oklahoma hard red winter wheat.”
In fact, Taiwan’s government
has asked U.S. Wheat Associates
(USW) to help establish national
standards for whole wheat flour
and baked goods, and asked
TFMA and USW to help design
a program encouraging Taiwan
consumers to eat whole wheat
products daily.
The activities of USW are made
possible by producer checkoff
dollars managed by the Oklahoma
Wheat Commission and 18 other
state wheat commissions and
through cost-share funding
provided by USDA’s Foreign
Agricultural Service.
Taiwan Goodwill Mission (cont. from page 1)
Winter-2011.indd 3 11/21/2011 12:05:14 PM
Oklahoma Wheat Brief Page 4
Oklahoma State Fair Wheatheart
Bread Baking Contest
The contest is an annual event
sponsored by the Oklahoma Wheat
Commission held at the Oklahoma
State Fairgrounds during the
Oklahoma State Fair. This
year the contest was held on
September 25th, 2011. There
were 128 participants from
42 counties, all champion or
reserve champion winners
at the county bread baking
contests. Top bread bakers in
the state were awarded.
The contest consists of 12
classes, 6 in the senior division
and 6 in the junior division.
Senior division classes include
white bread, whole grain
bread, dinner rolls, other
wheat breads, sweet breads
and machine breads. Junior
division classes include white
bread, dinner rolls, other wheat
breads, sweet breads, specialty
shapes and machine breads.
Two judges for each division
are provided. The judging criteria
consists of appearance, texture,
crumb and flavor.
Appearance is defined by a
symmetrically, well shaped,
uniform size with
an evenly round
top loaf. A golden
brown color with
a smooth tender
crust. Rolls should
be attractively
shaped, plump,
all the same size,
golden brown and
a bit lighter on the
sides than the top.
Texture should
be moderately fine
and even grained,
soft, free from
crumbliness, free
from dryness or
doughiness and
category met this criteria, making
them the Oklahoma Wheat
Commission outstanding bread
winners.
Karsten Blevins, from
Kay County placed first
in the specialty shapes
category of the junior
division. His entry of
Sagmont Bread topped
the other specialty shaped
breads in the class, also
winning him the title of
Grand Champion for the
junior division with this
outstanding specialty
loaf.
State champions in
the junior divisions
include: Nikki Morris,
Dewey County, white
bread; Spencer Riley,
Jackson County, other wheat bread;
Jacob Hinkle, Grady County, sweet
breads; Sheyanne McGlothin,
Caddo County, dinner rolls; and
Brenna Morris, Dewey County,
bread machine.
Renee Howard, placed first in the
white bread category of the senior
division. Her entry of Country
White Bread topped the
other white breads in the
class, also winning her the
title of Grand Champion
with this outstanding loaf
of bread.
State champions in the
senior divisions include:
Betty Stejskal, Canadian
County, dinner rolls;
Edwina Olsen, Garfield
County, sweet breads;
Nancy Barth, Harper
County, whole grain
bread; Travis Bowman,
Ellis County, other wheat
breads and Donna Jones,
Canadian County, bread
machine.
free from large air bubbles in loaf.
Rolls should be crisp, tender and
have a thin crust.
Crumb must be tender to the
touch, moist, silky and elastic in
quality.
Flavor is desired to have a
pleasingly well baked flavor, with
nut like or wheat like taste, yet free
from undesirable flavor; such as
yeast or other ingredients.
The top candidates in each
Renee Howard receives title of Grand Champion in Senior Division for her Country
White Bread at the 2011 Wheatheart Show. Pictured from left to right; Secretary/
Treasurer of OWC, Don Schieber, Ponca City; Renee Howard; OWC board member
Kenneth Failes, Cherokee and Executive Director of the OWC, Mike Schulte.
Karsten Blevins receives title of Grand Champion in Junior Division for his
Sagmont Bread at the 2011 Wheatheart Show sponsored by the Oklahoma
Wheat Commission. Pictured are Karsten Blevins and Executive Director
of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Mike Schulte.
Winter-2011.indd 4 11/21/2011 12:05:16 PM
Oklahoma 4-H/FFA Junior Wheat Show
Oklahoma Wheat Brief Page 5
Students were
awarded for their
accomplishments
at the Oklahoma
4-H/FFA Wheat
S h o w Q u a l i t y
I m p r o v e m e n t
Program and State
4-H/FFA Junior
W h e a t S h o w
t h a t w a s h e l d
o n S e p t e m b e r
1st, 2011, at the
Oklahoma State
University Alumni
Center.
According to
Kim Anderson,
O k l a h o m a
C o o p e r a t i v e
Extension Service
grain marketing
specialist; “Participating students
learn what it takes to produce
milling quality wheat.” He
also stated that “The purpose of
this program is to promote the
production of quality wheat and
teach 4-H and FFA youth about
wheat production, marketing, and
management.”
Piper Wray, daughter of Ronnie
and Tammie Wray,
was awarded the
o v e r a l l g r a n d
champion award
f o r t h e s e c o n d
consecutive year
showing her Overley
variety. Wray placed
2nd in production
and visual, 2nd in
milling and baking,
e a r n i n g h e r t h e
title of 1st place
among the FFA,
F FA c h a m p i o n ,
and overall grand
champion of the
4-H and FFA Junior
Wheat Show.
Wray, a member of the Lomega
FFA chapter, received $3,000
in scholarship money for her
accomplishments with her Overley
variety.
Dylan Chaney, son of Scott
and Jennifer Chaney and Barbara
Chaney, placed 1st overall in the
4-H division while showing his
Duster variety. Chaney placed
14th in production and visual, 1st
in milling and baking,
earning him the title
of 4-H champion.
Chaney, a member
of the Garber 4-H club
in Garfield County,
received $3,000 in
scholarship money for
his accomplishments
w i t h h i s D u s t e r
variety.
In all, $16,000 in
scholarship money
was awarded at the
banquet. Scholarships
are funded by Check-o
f f d o l l a r s a n d
awarded to the top
five 4-H and top five
FFA entries. The
contest is sponsored
by the Oklahoma
Wheat Commission, Oklahoma
Wheat Research Foundation,
Oklahoma Genetics Incorporated
and Oklahoma State University.
“ T h e O k l a h o m a W h e a t
Commission is glad to reward the
hard work of those who entered
the Oklahoma 4-H and FFA Junior
Wheat Show. It is always rewarding
to watch these students work hard
at raising a good quality wheat
product. They will be our
future to staying competitive in
the world wheat marketplace;
so giving them incentives to
grow and learn is extremely
important,” said Mike Schulte,
Executive Director of the
Oklahoma Wheat Commission.
Overall grand champion for the second consecutive year is Piper Wray. Pictured from left
to right: Ronnie Wray; Brandon Brown, FFA Instructor; Tammie Wray; Jim Reese, Secretary
of Agriculture; Piper Wray; Dr. Robert Whitson, Dean of OSU’s Division of Ag Sciences and
Natural Resources; and Joshua Conaway, Northwest District FFA Vice-President.
Overall 4-H Champion honors in the 2011 4-H/FFA Junior Wheat show went
to Dylan Chaney. Pictured from left to right; Scott Chaney; Jennifer Chaney;
Barbara Chaney; Dylan Chaney; Jim Reese, Secretary of Agriculture; and Dr.
Robert Whitson, Dean of OSU’s Division of Ag Sciences and Natural Resources.
Winter-2011.indd 5 11/21/2011 12:05:18 PM
Oklahoma Wheat Commission
3800 N. Classen Blvd., Suite C40
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
Oklahoma Wheat Brief Page 6
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Everyone here at the Oklahoma Wheat
Commission sincerely thanks you in
advance for your contribution.
Upcoming Events
* December 10th, 2011 - Oklahoma Wheat Growers
Convention; Express Event Center, Oklahoma City, OK
* January 13th-14th, 2012 - KNID Enid Farm Show;
Enid, OK
* January 26th-29th, 2012 - National U.S. Wheat Associates
Winter Meeting; Washington, DC
* February 9th-11th, 2012 - Oklahoma Crop Improvement
Annual Meeting; Embassy Suites-Meridian Ave;
Oklahoma City, OK
* February 17th-18th, 2012 - American Farmers and Ranchers
Annual Convention; Embassy Suites; Norman, OK
Winter-2011.indd 6 11/21/2011 12:05:19 PM