NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
March 23, 2000
George Flaskerud, Extension Crops Economist
NDSU Extension Service
Durum and soft red winter wheat export commitments (actual exports plus unshipped sales) were up from a year ago, but commitments were down for hard red spring, hard red winter and white wheat as of March 9, according to USDA's Foreign Ag Service. As a result, commitments for all wheat were down 3 percent.
Durum was 7 percent ahead of a year ago while USDA's March projection was that exports for the marketing year would be the same as a year ago. Similarly, soft red winter was up 67 percent while the projection was for a 52-percent increase.
Hard red spring was down but slightly ahead of the projection for the year. Hard red winter was down 1 percent while USDA's projection was for an increase of 7 percent. White wheat was down 29 percent while USDA's projection was for a decrease of 24 percent.
For all wheat, corn and soybeans, USDA reports total commitments as a percentage of total exports--in effect, the pace of exports. As of March 9, the pace of exports was the best for soybeans and the worst for wheat.
The pace of wheat exports is not keeping up with the pace of the last four years. The pace was at 83 percent for the current marketing year while it was at 96 percent last year, 94 percent two years ago, 95 percent three years ago and 102 percent four years ago.
For corn, the pace is better than last year. The pace was at 69 percent for the current marketing year while it was at 65 percent last year, 72 percent two years ago, 80 percent three years ago and 91 percent four years ago.
The soybean export pace this year is ahead of two of the last four years. The pace was at 86 percent for the current marketing year while it was at 79 percent last year, 88 percent two years ago, 87 percent three years ago and 81 percent four years ago.
Export commitments for barley were 585,000 metric tons as of March 9. A year ago they were 711,000 metric tons.
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Source: George Flaskerud (701) 231-7377
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136