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Wheat

Wheat

The UK wheat area over the last three seasons has gone from boom to bust to boom. With the UK being an exporter of over two million in 2019/20 season. To importing maybe up to 3 million tonnes in 2020/21 to hopefully in 2021/22 back to an exportable surplus again. None of this is to do with politics or Brexit but good old Great British weather. We are hopefully on the cusp of a Brexit trade deal nearly four years after the UK voted out. We will then enter into a new era of farm support based on environmental schemes and soil health rather than chemically driven mass yields. The big wheat producers in the world are now dominated by the Black sea countries and now lesser extent the US. Each year the Black sea countries are flexing their muscles as more investment is made into their agriculture and their infra structure. On the flip side the world’s importers are dominated by China, Middle east and North African countries. The world is currently gripped by Covid 19 but the end is in sight and the world will rebound. But food inflation is going to be a game changer in the years to come as demand also rebounds. Weather disasters are always close to hand and every season the world demands more. But pressures of a more sustainable world are building and world agriculture will become ever more accountable.

Milling Wheat

At Robin Appel ltd we are not looking to be in the high-volume low input feed market but to get involved with the quality consumers who want top quality and top-quality service. This starts with accurate sampling to having our team of farm traders to Logistics and accounts teams. The UK milling market is now based in the midlands and North West so a lot of wheat is travelling North with much of the quality wheat sourced in the southern counties. This brings its challenges and opportunities but quality service is paramount.

UK varieties have improved in quality and diversity. Group 1 wheat is dominated by Skyfall and KWS Zyatt both are high yielding and very popular with the flour miller and export market in surplus years. Group 3 wheats have rebounded with the exciting new varieties of Firefly and Elicit. The UK is one of the highest quality wheat producers of soft biscuit wheat. We are anticipating the wheat hectarage to drop so growing quality crops is definitely the way forward.

Nick Matthews

Tel: 01489 897105
Nick@robin-appel.com