April 3, 2003

PRC Team Evaluates Wheat At Northern Crops Institute

Fargo, ND, USA. A seven-member technical team from the People's Republic of China is at the Northern Crops Institute, Fargo, ND to evaluate the region's hard red spring wheat for their country's flour and baking needs. The team is sponsored by the U.S. Wheat Associates.

"This is a great opportunity to talk about the hard red spring wheat that is grown in this region, so that they can gain a better understanding of its quality attributes and learn how to best utilize our spring wheat. Our objective is to increase HRS wheat sales to China," said Brian Sorenson, NCI's Technical Director.

Matt Weimar, regional vice president, China Region, U.S. Wheat Associates, commented, "We've come to the United States to look at the ability of U.S. wheat to blend with Chinese wheat and also to use it in processing of Chinese food products and western food made in China."

"The imports of wheat into China have been low in the last few years, because they had an oversupply. Currently, the stocks that China has on hand at the end of the year under government control could be less than a half year's use. Expectations are that imports will start climbing again," Weimar concluded.

The two-day program includes lectures on spring wheat varieties, testing, and utilization, in addition to baking trials. "We will be conducting a demonstration to show the excellent mixing and baking properties of our region's spring wheat," said Brian Sorenson, NCI's Technical Director. "Our wheat is known around the world for its strong blending characteristics and its high performance in specialty breads."

Northern Crops Institute supports regional agriculture and value-added processing by conducting educational and technical programs that expand and maintain domestic and international markets for northern-grown crops.