Wheat Industry News

May 29, 2023

Speaking of Wheat

“CBOT wheat futures reached the $14.2525 per bushel all-time high in March 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, turning Europe’s breadbasket and critical logistical hub at the Black Sea ports into war zones. While the battle for Ukraine continues to rage, CBOT wheat prices have steadily declined. [A] pattern of lower highs and lower lows that took the most liquid wheat futures to a $5.9550 low in May 2023. Wheat remains in a bearish trend, at just under the $6.10 level on May 22, but the price is higher than the level from August 2015 through September 2020. Wheat’s war premium has declined, but the price remains elevated.” – Barchart Analyst Andrew Hecht, May 22, 2023.

Fiber In; Keto Out?

Key issues impacting the grain-based foods industry are the popularity of fiber, an apparent decline in keto diets and sustainability concerns, according to the International Food Information Council’s 2023 Food and Health Survey released May 23. The IFIC survey involved 1,022 Americans of the ages 18 to 80 who were contacted April 3-10. When asked what dieting patterns they followed in the past year, 4% said ketogenic or high fat, which was down from 7% in last year’s survey. The percentage of consumers following gluten-free diets fell to 6% from 9% last year. Low-carb dieting remained the same at 6%. Read more here.

National Wheat Foundation Partners with My Plate

The National Wheat Foundation is pleased to join the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion as a USDA MyPlate National Strategic Partner. The partnership aims to enlighten individuals about the advantages of incorporating wheat into their dietary choices. At its core, MyPlate is a scientifically grounded initiative, crafted to impart knowledge on the merits of wholesome eating and encourage adjustments in our dietary habits that can yield significant long-term benefits. “We are looking forward to working with MyPlate as we help educate the benefits wheat can have in a person’s diet …,” said Bernard Peterson, Chairman of the National Wheat Foundation and a wheat farmer from Kentucky. Read more here.

India: Wheat Export Ban Stays Put

The Indian government has ruled out lifting a ban on wheat exports implemented one year ago as a measure to control rising domestic prices. Asked if wheat exports will be allowed, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said, ‘No chance at all.’ The government is supplying some quantity of wheat to a few countries like Nepal and Bhutan via a government-to-government trade arrangement. Citing reasons for continuing the export ban, Additional Secretary of the Food Ministry Subodh Kumar said India is not a traditional wheat exporting nation. However, the country exported wheat in the last three years owing to surplus supplies. Read more here.

U.S. Hard Red Spring Crop Planted?

Do not be surprised if the next USDA NASS weekly report shows most of the 2023 spring wheat crop is seeded. As of May 21, U.S. spring wheat planting progress was seen as 60% complete, up from 40% previously, with estimates ranging widely from 51% to 75% complete. However, with a warm, dry forecast over the next several days, farmers will make amazing progress. North Dakota Wheat Commission Policy and Marketing Director Jim Peterson told U.S. Wheat Associates on May 24 that farmers seeded fully half the total expected crop just last week.

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Video: Why Your Food Future Could be Trapped in a Seed Morgue

In a world of PowerPoint overload, Rex Bernardo stands out. No bullet points. No charts. No jargon. Just stories and photographs. At this year’s National Association for Plant Breeding conference on the Big Island of Hawaii, he stood before a room of peers — all experts in the science of seeds — and did something radical: he showed them images. He told them stories. And he asked them to remember not what they saw, but how they felt.

Bernardo, recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, has spent his career searching for the genetic treasures tucked inside what plant breeders call exotic germplasm — ancient, often wild genetic lines that hold secrets to resilience, taste, and traits we've forgotten to value.

But Bernardo didn’t always think this way.

“I worked in private industry for nearly a decade,” he recalls. “I remember one breeder saying, ‘We’re making new hybrids, but they’re basically the same genetics.’ That stuck with me. Where is the new diversity going to come from?”

For Bernardo, part of the answer lies in the world’s gene banks — vast vaults of seed samples collected from every corner of the globe. Yet, he says, many of these vaults have quietly become “seed morgues.” “Something goes in, but it never comes out,” he explains. “We need to start treating these collections like living investments, not museums of dead potential.”

That potential — and the barriers to unlocking it — are deeply personal for Bernardo. He’s wrestled with international policies that prevent access to valuable lines (like North Korean corn) and with the slow, painstaking science of transferring useful traits from wild relatives into elite lines that farmers can actually grow. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But he’s convinced that success starts not in the lab, but in the way we communicate.

“The fact sheet model isn’t cutting it anymore,” he says. “We hand out a paper about a new variety and think that’s enough. But stories? Plants you can see and touch? That’s what stays with people.”

Bernardo practices what he preaches. At the University of Minnesota, he helped launch a student-led breeding program that’s working to adapt leafy African vegetables for the Twin Cities’ African diaspora. The goal? Culturally relevant crops that mature in Minnesota’s shorter growing season — and can be regrown year after year.

“That’s real impact,” he says. “Helping people grow food that’s meaningful to them, not just what's commercially viable.”

He’s also brewed plant breeding into something more relatable — literally. Coffee and beer have become unexpected tools in his mission to make science accessible. His undergraduate course on coffee, for instance, connects the dots between genetics, geography, and culture. “Everyone drinks coffee,” he says. “It’s a conversation starter. It’s a gateway into plant science.”