Montana Wheat and Barley Committee

Montana Wheat and Barley Committee We promote local research and develop trade markets around the world!

Our goal is for Montana to be known for the best wheat and barley in the world, because everyone deserves the finest ingredients in their food.

🚨 Markets Alert — Wheat markets have found new life this summer, and a convergence of factors is creating real opportuni...
09/01/2026

🚨 Markets Alert — Wheat markets have found new life this summer, and a convergence of factors is creating real opportunity for U.S. producers.

Drought, declining acreage, and escalating Black Sea conflict have combined to tighten the global wheat supply picture heading into fall. Ukrainian grain exports have dropped 76% year over year in August — a dramatic decline from one of the world's most significant wheat exporting regions. 🌍⚠️

While USDA raised Ukraine's wheat production forecast to 25.4 million tons, export projections were cut simultaneously, with ending stocks nearly doubling to 4.8 million tons — grain that isn't moving. For buyers who depend on Black Sea supply, reliable alternatives like U.S. and Montana wheat become significantly more attractive. 🌾📊

Read the full market breakdown 👇
https://www.farmprogress.com/tv-and-radio/wheat-markets-rally-as-black-sea-conflict-disrupts-grain-flow

🔬 Scientists may have found a way to make crops absorb significantly more nitrogen — and the implications for input cost...
08/31/2026

🔬 Scientists may have found a way to make crops absorb significantly more nitrogen — and the implications for input costs and environmental impact are substantial.

NYU researchers have identified the molecular regulators that essentially tell plants they've had enough nitrogen. When a plant converts enough raw nitrogen into organic nutrients, it triggers a protein — HHO5 — that signals the roots to stop absorbing more. By understanding that mechanism, researchers believe they can engineer varieties that bypass the shutoff signal and take up more of the nitrogen already in the soil. 🌱📋

The potential outcomes are significant — reduced nitrate leaching into water supplies, lower fertilizer input costs, and higher yields. For Montana wheat and barley producers already navigating climbing input costs, crop varieties that use nitrogen more efficiently would be a meaningful development. 💰🌾

Read the full story 👇
https://www.farmprogress.com/crops/scientists-discover-how-to-make-plants-absorb-more-nitrogen

🌱 Three brothers outside Havre are taking fertilizer costs into their own hands — and building a business around the sol...
08/29/2026

🌱 Three brothers outside Havre are taking fertilizer costs into their own hands — and building a business around the solution.

Greg, Gary, and Gerald Baltrusch are generational farmers and founding partners of Smart Blend Technology, using their own operation to test Lípasma, a liquid biological plant food designed to help crops access and absorb nutrients more efficiently. Three growing seasons of on-farm trials later, the results are driving real interest. 📊🚜

What makes this story stand out is that it's a Montana farming family identifying a problem, developing a solution, and bringing it to market for other producers facing the same input cost pressures. That's Montana agriculture at its best. 🌾🤝

Read the full story 👇
https://www.ktvq.com/news/family-farmer-led-montana-company-tests-new-approach-to-crop-nutrition

🌾 The Wheat Foods Council is turning a new page — and the person leading that charge brings a unique perspective to the ...
08/28/2026

🌾 The Wheat Foods Council is turning a new page — and the person leading that charge brings a unique perspective to the role.

Sheri Glazier, an Oklahoma wheat farmer and registered dietitian, has been named the WFC's new executive director. The combination of on-farm experience and nutrition expertise is exactly the kind of leadership the organization was looking for as it refocuses its mission around farmers and domestic wheat demand. 📋

For Montana producers, a stronger domestic promotion effort for wheat foods is good news. More consumer confidence in wheat and wheat-based products means more demand — and more demand means more opportunity for the farmers growing it. 🤝

Read the full story 👇
https://uswheat.org/wheatletter/wheat-foods-council-refocuses-with-new-executive-director-an-oklahoma-wheat-farmer/

🔬 A promising experimental treatment is helping people overcome severe dairy allergies — and the implications could even...
08/27/2026

🔬 A promising experimental treatment is helping people overcome severe dairy allergies — and the implications could eventually extend to wheat.

16-year-old Julian went from experiencing anaphylactic shock when near milk to consuming it safely after enrolling in the Tolerance Induction Program at the Food Allergy Institute in Los Angeles. The treatment works by exposing patients to micro-dosed amounts of allergens daily, gradually building tolerance through a series of carefully managed steps using biosimilar proteins. 💉

While scientific evidence is still developing and more research is needed, the approach opens an interesting door. If tolerance induction can work for dairy allergies, the science could one day offer a pathway forward for managing wheat allergies as well — a development that would have meaningful implications for wheat demand and consumer confidence. 🌾

Read the full story 👇
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/16-year-free-dairy-allergy-after-experimental-treatment-135319712

08/26/2026

🌾 We caught up with Paul Bradley, MGGA Treasurer, out in the field while he's cutting Dagmar spring wheat — one of MSU's newest varieties.

Straight from the cab during harvest — it doesn't get more real-time than this. 🚜☀️ Hear what Paul has to say about how Dagmar is performing this season 👇

🚜 The 8/20 crop progress report is in — winter wheat harvest is winding down at 79% complete and farmers are now full st...
08/25/2026

🚜 The 8/20 crop progress report is in — winter wheat harvest is winding down at 79% complete and farmers are now full steam ahead on spring wheat, durum, and barley.

All three spring crops are roughly a third of the way through harvest. Barley and spring wheat are holding steady with 47% rated good to excellent, while durum continues to lag behind with only 30% in that range. 📊🌾

The drought monitor remains a concern — severity is increasing in the southeast corner of the state, adding pressure to an already challenging finish to the season. ☀️📉

Harvest is in the home stretch — more updates to come as the season closes out. 👇

🌍 It hasn't been an ideal summer for crops across the Northern Hemisphere — but the global grain and oilseed supply pict...
08/24/2026

🌍 It hasn't been an ideal summer for crops across the Northern Hemisphere — but the global grain and oilseed supply picture is holding up better than feared.

Despite challenging weather across major production areas in 2026, ending stocks are at levels that should prevent a significant supply shortfall. Production is expected to be good enough to limit the damage, keeping a lid on any major run-up in grain and oilseed futures. 📊

El Niño remains a wildcard for some commodities — rice, sugar, coffee, and others — but from a grain and oilseed perspective the event appears to have been overhyped heading into the season. For Montana producers navigating their own tough year, the broader global context matters when it comes to where prices go from here. 🌾📉

Read the full global crop outlook 👇
https://www.world-grain.com/articles/23120-global-crops-weather-summer-well

🇯🇵 MWBC welcomed a trade team from Japan on August 8 for a packed one-day tour of Montana wheat country.The visit covere...
08/22/2026

🇯🇵 MWBC welcomed a trade team from Japan on August 8 for a packed one-day tour of Montana wheat country.

The visit covered two key stops — the Montana State Grain Lab, where the team got a firsthand look at the precision behind Montana's grain grading and quality assurance process, and an on-farm visit with MWBC District 4 Board Member Lee Dahlman to see Montana wheat production straight from the source. 🔬🌾

Short on time but long on impression — that's what Montana wheat does. Japan is one of the most important and longstanding export markets for U.S. wheat, and visits like this keep that relationship strong. 🤝

🔬 A significant breakthrough in wheat pest resistance research was just published — and it has long-term implications fo...
08/21/2026

🔬 A significant breakthrough in wheat pest resistance research was just published — and it has long-term implications for producers worldwide.

Researchers at the University of Maryland have successfully cloned a gene that makes wheat resistant to Hessian fly larvae and demonstrated exactly how it interacts with a protein produced by the insect. It's the first time anyone has cloned a pest resistance gene in wheat and proven that direct gene-to-pest interaction — a barrier that has stood in the way of engineering effective resistance for years. 📋

This hits close to home for Montana. Dr. Tiziana Oppedisano has been actively tracking Hessian fly presence in the state after the pest returned in force last year. Research like this opens the door to developing varieties with durable, targeted resistance built right into the plant — fewer inputs, better yields, and more tools for producers to work with. 🌾

This is exactly the kind of science MWBC invests in supporting. Read the full research breakdown 👇
https://agnr.umd.edu/news/umd-researchers-collaborated-clone-and-describe-function-highly-effective-hessian-fly/

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