By Sam Anderson — Cali Colombia, Bogota Colombia, Quito Ecuador, Lima Peru and Santiago Chile: a whirlwind of a trip! This was my first crop quality tour. I was able to witness firsthand one of the core projects Montana and US Wheat Associates support. The objectives of the trip were to present this year’s crop quality data, provide evidence of superior quality, and give the industry a first-hand perspective from a producer.
I was very honored to attend on behalf of the US spring wheat producers. A task I did not take lightly, the presentation was very in-depth, discussing the finer details of wheat quality. Things like solvent retention capacity, alveographs, farinographs, loaf volumes, and water absorption. South American buyers are very focused on their economic bottom line and how different quality characteristics can impact the price to the baker and efficiencies to the miller. From a spring wheat perspective, not much is exported to those regions, CWRS tends to be 30$/MT or more cheaper.
I believe I was able to drive home some of the advantages of HRS NS, looking at the protein quality and the lower shipped moisture adding the most value–and potentially making up the price difference. At the end of my presentation in Ecuador, I was asked “How can I buy HRS!?” It was such a great question that almost felt staged.
Ultimately, I was blown away by the high-caliber staff US Wheat has in their Santiago office. Their enthusiasm to sell more US wheat into South America was quite contagious. There is some really good work going on with consulting for combo shipments that I believe will result in more demand soon.
At the end of this trip we were all completely exhausted, five seminars in seven days and four countries. It was a ton of work, and the group was very motivated to present well and represent the US in the best way. We were able to slip away a few times and see some incredible sights, churches, Colombia’s capital square, the tallest building in South America, the equator, a wine farm, the beach, a cable car tour and a few pisco sours.
A job well done, and I am proud of our work. I cannot wait until the next one!