Staff from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) were among 71 participants who attended the 2012 Hard Spring and Durum Wheat Quality Tour across the northern plains July 23-26.

The U.S. Wheat Quality Council sponsors the annual tour, enabling attendees to assess the yield of the current year’s wheat crop – even before it is harvested – and to network with specialists in the wheat quality field.

Overall, it was a very good wheat crop, and the Wheat Quality Council predicts it’s the third-highest yield ever. Thanks to early planting, the wheat matured enough to escape the extreme heat of the summer, allowing for higher protein levels and, ultimately, a good harvest that can be readily exported. Read more »

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry (front in white) and Afghan Agriculture Minister Asif Rahimi (on truck) load seed At Badam Bagh Farm in Kabul.

In Afghanistan, wheat is not only a diet staple but is also the country’s most widely grown crop.

When an invasive fungus known as Ug99 threatened to damage and destroy Afghan wheat, the USDA joined forces with U.S. Central Command and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan to help stop it. Together in late 2010, they delivered 150 tons of USDA-donated Ug99-resistant wheat seed to Afghanistan. The seed arrived in October 2010 and entered Afghanistan’s seed multiplication program. Read more »

There is nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread. Now image if bread, like wine, was valued for its “terroir” – the idea that the land where the ingredients come from impart a special flavor or essence to the final product. Well that may not be a far fetched idea if you try Borealis Breads up in Portland, Maine. Read more »