By Kent Kupfner, Executive Director
I’m painfully aware of how challenging both the growing and harvesting seasons have been for Montana’s producers. It seems like we’ve been hit with the double whammy of unfavorable weather at the wrong time along with poor commodity prices. MWBC shares and acknowledges your frustrations. We encourage everyone to keep moving forward and stay optimistic. Seeding conditions are excellent!
Trade Team Season
MWBC had a very busy and absolutely wonderful summer filled with hosting trade teams from around the globe. We welcomed multiple teams from Japan, Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. These flour millers represent substantial demand for Montana origin spring and winter wheat and the teams included several “heavy hitters.” These countries dominate the list of our largest customers and include five of the top ten buyers of US wheat. Specifically, Philippines are the number two buyer, Japan third, South Korea fourth, Thailand seventh and Indonesia tenth. Indonesia, which is the world’s fourth most populous country, is the world’s second largest overall importer of wheat. This fact alone presents an excellent opportunity to expand US wheat exports. Indonesia has recently accelerated their purchases of US wheat with the majority of hard red winter wheat shipping from Montana. This is a positive development in an otherwise challenging price environment. Between June and October, MWBC will have hosted private trade teams from four of the top five Japanese milling companies representing more than 80 percent of the market.
Members of the Japanese Mid-Level Managers Trade Team gather for a commemorative photo in Fort Benton between stops.
In addition to these teams, MWBC opens our doors to visits with pulse-related trade teams visiting Montana. As an example, a group of South American pulse buyers hosted by the Department of Agriculture and the HOLA Montana program visited us in August. We presented our current slide deck educating these visitors about Montana’s wheat and barley industry. Perhaps our efforts will lead to additional demand from countries such as Peru, Colombia and Panama.
Field Days
MWBC attendance at various MSU and private industry field days is always a priority, particularly with our sizeable annual investment in research. Getting the chance to visit with Montana growers about production challenges and markets is invaluable.
MWBC staff and directors attended MSU field days in Conrad, Moccasin, Havre, Sidney and Bozeman. While I was unable to get to Creston’s field day, I dropped in the following day to visit the staff. I was thankful for the thorough tour they gave me of the station facilities, equipment and research plots, including lunch leftovers from their field day! Joe Jensen and Jessica Torrion were excellent hosts as they walked me through research plots ranging from winter barley to spring wheat and canola.
A “warm” 103 degree day did not deter attendees at Sidney’s Field Days.
In addition to the MSU field days, we welcomed the invitation to join both Molson Coors and Malt Europ for their respective grower appreciation events and plot tours. It was again a very challenging year for Montana’s barely growers and we’re looking forward to a rebound in malt barley demand. We also have our requests in for more irrigation water and less hail next year!
Industry Networking
The chance to network with a broad range of associated stakeholders such as land grant institutions, state wheat commissions and railroads provides unique opportunities to promote, advocate and champion Montana’s wheat and barley industry. With the selection of a new MSU leader, we jumped at the opportunity to meet President Brock Tessman. We utilized the meeting to offer our full-throated support of the College of Agriculture including experiment station research, and we requested that MSU continue to look beyond the Gallatin Valley when implementing the land grant mission. We also stressed the importance of collaboration among university scientists including the incoming Winifred Asbjornson Plant Sciences Chair.
Lori Wickett and I attended the US Wheat Associates (USW) summer board meeting in Boise, Idaho. This gathering marked the retirement of outgoing USW President Vince Peterson and welcomed incoming President Mike Spier. Former United Grain Corporation wheat trader Brian Liedle joined the USW staff as Vice President of Overseas Operations. Jim Pellman, a North Dakota wheat producer, accepted the Chairman role from Idaho’s Clark Hamilton. Updates from the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and presentations covering world wheat markets and international food aid efforts were also included in the agenda.
We managed to get a quick picture with retiring CEO Vince Peterson, along with incoming CEO Mike Spier, before boarding a plane home from US Wheat meetings in Boise.
A management team from BNSF, including Matt White, Rob Keller and Mike McKay, made a courtesy visit to MWBC to provide an update on railroad activity and harvest preparations. We discussed various performance metrics, freight rates, shuttle train auctions, car supply and export forecasts. MWBC finds it valuable to include BNSF, which is such an important cog in the supply chain, during our day-to-day efforts to market and promote Montana wheat and barley.
Max Cederberg Retires
On the eve of the MWBC summer board meeting, we celebrated Director Max Cederberg for his six years of dedicated service to Montana growers. Appointed during Governor Bullock’s term, Max has been a steady spoke in our wheel, including attending national meetings and providing insight during our annual grant selections. Thank you, Max, for your dedication and commitment to promoting and advancing the wheat and barley industry — your unwavering contributions will be missed!
Max Cederberg receives a plaque for his commitment to MWBC.
Harvest Wrap-up and Seeding Season
Best of luck to everyone with their ongoing efforts to collect the rest of the 2025 crops. We know it’s been a challenge. Our preliminary seeding outlook for winter wheat acres reveals a slight increase as conditions over much of Big Sky Country are largely favorable. I hope you enjoy your fall, be safe and perhaps I’ll catch you at a tailgate or a grower meeting.