Whether wheat producers are compared to manufacturers or to other farmers, no case can be made that wheat is exceptional and merits exceptional treatment. What would be the reaction if all the small exporters selling their wares via the internet were forced to deliver their goods to a publicly-listed export company? These are small businesses not much different in size to a viable family farm, successfully exporting all sorts of things, from toys to computer modems. Why should wheat...

Bumper winter wheat crop forecast. The state's farmers have increased their wheat acreage by nearly one-third. Our goal is to promote a civil discussion about the news of the day and items of interests for those in the rapidcityjournal.com community. We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. We ask that readers keep their comments on topic and avoid derogatory comments about fellow readers on...

Tuesday, 15 May 2007 16:12 The NFU has welcomed the announcement of a new contract aimed at encouraging producers to consider returning to planting milling wheat. This is particularly true of milling wheat where the additional cost and risk in meeting the specification has not always been reflected in premiums available. This means the supply of wheat is no longer guaranteed, and both farmers and consumers must look to the market for security. Guy Gagen, NFU chief arable adviser, said: For...

April 24, 2007 Wheat growers say they will be ruined if the government moves away from a single desk wheat export marketing system. Alliance member Bob Iffla told AAP the deregulation of the dairy industry was the perfect example of what would happen to wheat growers upon removal of the export monopoly. But newly formed single desk lobby group the National Grains Alliance says croppers across the country would be ruined by the removal of the single desk. Mr Costello went further still,...

The Gaukels don't use herbicides, pesticides or fumigants to produce their wheat. So Kevin and his wife, Julie, created two bread mixes -- one for a whole wheat bread and another for a raisin bread -- at a time bread machines were in vogue. It was during one such reverie that Kevin hit upon the idea of a value-added business: The family could finish their hard red winter wheat into a variety of baking mixes to make extra cash. Like a meadowlark that refuses to be silenced by a heavy wind,...