African trade team explores Kansas wheat industry

Exports of Kansas wheat may be in short supply right now, but working with international customers is a critical piece of developing and maintaining long-term markets. That’s why decision-makers from agribusiness companies in Nigeria and Kenya traversed Kansas in early August to learn more about hard red winter (HRW) wheat and the U.S. grain supply chain as part of a trade team organized by Kansas Wheat and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW). 

“Harvest results may differ from year-to-year, but coordinating local visits directly connects our customers with the dependable farmers who are committed to growing high-quality wheat,” said Aaron Harries, vice president of research and operations for Kansas Wheat. “Around the world, grain buyers, millers and bakers track the progress of our wheat crop each year, and moving past the headlines is important to communicating the quantity and quality of each year’s harvest.” 

The team traveled to Kansas from August 5 to 9, visiting grain companies, wheat researchers and a flour mill. At the USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service in Kansas City, the team received an up-and-close look at how U.S. wheat samples are inspected and graded before heading off to markets both foreign and domestic. In Manhattan, the team learned about this year’s crop quality as well as wheat research projects and upcoming varieties at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center and USDA Center for Grain and Animal Health Research. Discussions at the IGP Institute included the program’s technical training and assistance programs in addition to tours of the full-scale pilot flour and feed mills. Finally, the team toured a commercial flour mill in McPherson. 

“Our team had a chance to visit all aspects of the supply chain, giving them a sense of how U.S. wheat quality is ensured throughout the way,” said Chad Weigand, USW regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa, based in Cape Town, South Africa, who accompanied the team. “These visits provide reassurance to overseas buyers that they are getting the quality they want, and face-to-face visits go a long way in providing trust and confidence in our buyers and establishing long-term relationships.”

Trade team participants represented two distinctly different types of overseas markets — large and well-established customers and emerging markets that present future market opportunities. Both are important to the long-term mission of U.S. Wheat Associates — the industry’s export market development organization — which invests funding from USDA Foreign Agricultural Service export market development programs to bring trade teams of overseas customers and stakeholders to the United States each year. These visits provide important selling points in a world marketplace where Kansas wheat producers compete against their counterparts in Canada, Argentina, Australia and the Black Sea. 

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and the fourth-largest buyer of U.S. wheat in the world. The United States has been the top wheat supplier in Nigeria two of the last five marketing years; the majority of which is HRW. This market is increasingly competitive with millers subject to price constraints. As a result, U.S. wheat farmers can lose out in this market when the dollar is strong or supplies are short, but Kansas Wheat and USW have built strong ties between the Nigerian milling industry and the U.S. grain supply chain. Trade teams like the one in early August are an important part of that process to reinforce the quality, reliability and value of U.S. wheat supplies for when market conditions are ripe.

Kenya, on the other hand, is considered a developing market. Per capita wheat consumption has increased significantly as the flour market consolidates and urbanization increases. Most wheat flour sold, however, is still used for the home baking of chapatti, a type of flatbread. 

USW is assisting this growing flour industry, particularly by working with up-and-coming millers who are just learning their trade. By providing technical assistance in areas like grain analysis, test milling, flour analysis and test baking, USW helps grow the region’s milling industry and increase those millers’ knowledge of and experience with U.S. wheat classes and their different functionality and advantages. USW also works with the flour industry to address trade policies — like import requirements — that would increase costs or complications in future imports of U.S. wheat. 

While the buying opportunities for both markets will be limited by the short supply of HRW wheat this year, building and maintaining relationships with overseas customers through trade teams and other market development efforts will continue to contribute to the long-term growth of opportunities for Kansas wheat farmers. 

Learn more about the trade opportunities and issues affecting the Kansas wheat industry at https://kswheat.com/international. 

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Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat