The Wide World of Wheat from the Washington Wheat Commission

Anchor: And now from the Washington Wheat Commission comes "The wide world of wheat" grain industry headlines from around the world. There is word from the breadbasket of India, the Punjuab, that state-run graineries are overflowing with last year's record crop, leaving no space to put this year's crop. A plan by the government to lift its moratorium on exporting wheat should help. Harvest is due to begin in earnest in India at the end of March. A Canadian scientist at the University of Manitoba is evaluating high yield, high starch content wheat varieties from Europe and Asia to develop a new winter wheat variety. The wheat wouldn't feed people, but rather is tailored to meet the needs of the ethanol industry. The Australia stock exchange is launching a wheat export futures contract designed to cover wheat from the country's top exporting state Western Australia. Eight point nine million metric tons of high-protein hard white wheat were produced in the state in the 2008/2009 harvest. In reaction to the end of a pilot program that allowed Mexican trucks to operate in the U.S. the government of Mexico has applied steep tariffs to 90 industrial and agricultural commodities. Wheat imports are not subject to the tariff and neither is corn, rice or beans. I'm Bob Hoff. Anchor: The Washington Wheat Commission wants growers and citizens alike to understand their industry has global reach. A pebble thrown anywhere in the world of grain is felt as ripples by Washington's 13,000 growers and their landlords.