Milling Journal

The annual wheat harvest in Kansas means not only a flurry of activity for Kansas wheat farmers, but for staff members of the Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers.

It is Trade Team season in Kansas - a time when representatives of the milling industry from other countries come to Kansas to see wheat being harvested and processed.

Already this year, trade teams from Chile and Nigeria have come to Kansas. Combined, these two markets buy more than 60 million bushels of wheat, much of it from Kansas.

Wheat sourced from the United States tends to contain higher quality than wheat from other countries.

According to Camara Mamma, who is in charge of volume sales for the Honeywell Flour Mills in Lagos, Nigeria, wheat sourced from the European Union a few years ago - while cheaper than U.S. wheat - was lower in quality and didn't produce as much bread per metric ton as the U.S. wheat.

More importantly, bread quality was subpar, a trait his customers noticed. And when quality is down, sales volume also declines, prompting variable costs to rise.

Thus, profitability declines, too.

"Wheat is not wheat," Mamma says. "U.S. Hard Red Winter is the only wheat that can guarantee the quality traits we need."

Protein content and gluten strength are two important attributes the Nigerian trade team tracks closely.

Reports from the U.S. Wheat Associates and Kansas State University, Mamma adds, helps foreign buyers keep abreast of quality throughout the year.

While in the U.S., the Nigerian team spent a day watching wheat harvest near Salina.

That farm visit will be a lasting impression of this trip to Kansas.

Mamma noted that three generations from the Joe Kejr family were involved in the wheat harvest.

He will take back to Nigeria a positive image of whole families working together to make harvest a success.

"I was particularly impressed to see 16-year-old and 21-year-old women driving the combine," he adds.

The Chilean trade team, accounts for more than 90% of the country's wheat imports.

They, too, made a farm visit near Ottawa, and were impressed with the speed and efficiency of the wheat harvesting process.

Both teams visited the Kansas City Board of Trade, plus other wheat-related businesses in and near Kansas City.

Each trade team visit is tailored to the needs of the guests.

The message these important customers take home, however, is consistent, according to Aaron Harries, Kansas Wheat's director of marketing:

"The message is that our farmers take great pride in producing wheat that feeds the world."

For more information, call 866-759-4328.

See Related Websites/Articles:

• Kansas Wheat

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