|
East Central Illinois | ND Mill Gets OK to Buy Canadian Wheat
Here's proof that spring wheat supplies are indeed scarce: North Dakota's state-owned flour mill has been granted permission to buy wheat from Canada.
More than 95 percent of the mill's wheat usually comes from the state's farmers, according to an AP article, with the rest from nearby states.
Now the mill has permission through August to shop farther from home. The mill's general manager said it may buy from Kansas or from Canada.
The alternative, to restrict production, would be worse, according to the state's ag commissioner Roger Johnson. "In the end, the mill's got to stay in business. The mill has got to retain its customers," Johnson said, according to the AP. "To not do that is to hurt all of us in the long term, and by us, I mean wheat producers in particular."
The AP said the mill has been under pressure before to procure wheat from Canada, and it cited a 1995 study that estimated the mill was losing $2 million in profits every two years by shunning Canadian wheat.
How much wheat Canada will have for sale this summer might be a consideration as well, given the reduction shown in the latest stocks report from Statistics Canada, which showed a 30 percent reduction in Dec. 1 wheat stocks.
| |
|
If they REALLY want more HRS seeded...............
