The US Department of Agriculture in its June World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report marginally raised from May its forecasts for domestic wheat, corn and soybean supplies for 2023-24. For wheat, the only one of the three major US crops in the 2023-24 marketing year (since June 1), a 6-million-bushel increase in 2023 production forecast at 1.136 billion bushels was carried through to the same increase for carryover on June 1, 2024, forecast at 562 million bushels. There were no changes from May to forecast 2023-24 wheat domestic use or exports. The average price of wheat paid to farmers in 2023-24 was forecast at $7.40 per bushel, down 30¢ from May and down $1.15, or 13%, from 2022-23.

Italian farmers and consumers are demanding that the government limit foreign durum wheat imports to keep domestic producers in business and ensure greater food security. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has promised to promote Italian agriculture and domestically grown produce, but over 50,000 people signed a petition organized by the association of Italian farmers CIA, saying that her government has not matched words with action yet.

Final export commitment data for marketing year (MY) 2022/23 that ended May 31 is now available, providing an overview of the year’s export and demand trends. In this article, we will look back on the MY 2022/23 demand trends and current MY 2023/24 data to provide context for the year to come as the world wheat market conditions continue to recover from the year’s volatility. Since the start of 2022/23, wheat prices and freight decreased, and currency markets stabilized following the steep price shock of Mr. Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Join NAWG’s advocacy campaign to engage with legislators on increasing Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) programs authorized in the Farm Bill. MAP’s authorized funding has not changed since 2006 and FMD funding has remained the same since 2002. Inflation and sequestration have significantly eroded our ability to compete with other countries who are steadily investing more in their agricultural export promotion efforts. Please visit NAWG’s website to participate in the grassroots efforts to make your voice heard.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an acceleration of Black Sea grain shipments from Ukrainian ports under a deal allowing safe wartime exports, a U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday as Russia threatens to quit the pact next month. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 to help tackle a global food crisis worsened by Moscow's invasion of its neighbor and blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Southern and East Idaho farmers who celebrated a heavy winter snowpack followed by a stormy spring as a reprieve from drought are now finding many of their fields have been hit with too much of a good thing. University of Idaho agriculture experts offering crop updates during a recent Ag Talk Tuesday online discussion reported lingering snow cover amid a cool and moist spring created ideal conditions for snow mold to damage winter cereal crops. Snow mold fungi grow at near-freezing conditions under prolonged snow cover, and damage has been extensive in winter wheat, especially in the Arbon and Malad valleys of Southeast Idaho.

The controversy over removing the four Lower Snake River dams in the Columbia basin has simmered for decades as salmon runs struggle. Yet Indigenous leaders and other proponents are watching closely as the nation’s biggest dam removal project gets underway in Northern California. In under two years, four Klamath River dams are set to be ripped out, freeing 400 miles of habitat for salmon and other threatened fish. The goal for the Nez Perce, whose ancestral lands span a large swath of present day Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, and other tribes is to see something similar happen on the Snake. But big challenges remain.