2024 was a “good year” for Pacific Northwest wheat, according to the Wheat Marketing Center, which recently released its annual crop quality report.

“Yields were up, general quality was very good, particularly when you look at test weight compared to the five-year average,” said Mike Moran, the center’s executive director. 

Funded by the Pacific Northwest wheat and grain commissions, the center reviews 600 to 800 samples to evaluate the region’s soft white and hard white wheat during harvest.

The samples are combined to replicate what the region’s wheat customers would receive, and evaluated for their milling and baking qualities.

Everything received a No. 1 U.S. grade, which is fairly common, save for the occasional pocket in a smaller region due to environmental issues, Moran said.

“We really didn’t see anything subpar this year, which was great,” Moran said.

In general, all wheat classes across the U.S. performed well, Moran said.

Soft red winter wheat didn’t look as good as last year, but that’s because they had “a profoundly great year” in 2023, he said.

Protein

Protein is below the five-year average. But the functional quality was still good, typical of expectations for soft white wheat, Moran said.

Lower protein is typically better for soft white wheat.

The five-year average is skewed right now because 2021 and 2023 were both very high-protein years.

A wide range of proteins are available to customers right now, he added.

“If there is a customer looking for higher protein, there’s still wheat out there, and we’ll meet their needs as well.”

One visiting customer asked: How low is too low?

“Honestly, we’re not really sure, because we haven’t seen a year — and this year particularly, we definitely didn’t see anything to indicate that the protein levels were negatively impacting functional use and quality,” Moran said.

Quality and yield

A farmer’s wheat quality priorities are disease resistance, pest tolerance and yield, while a customer might consider milling or baking characteristics.

The center also conducts quality testing in the National Wheat Yield Contest.

Moran was gratified to see that the winning “Bin Buster” and other top finalists in the contest used varieties on the Pacific Northwest wheat industry’s preferred varieties list.

“Historically, there’s a perception that in order to get yield, you have to compromise quality, or vice versa,” he said. “This year’s wheat yield contest winners really show you can have yield and quality. It is not necessarily a trade-off.”

Price

Low prices make U.S. wheat more competitive for customers, but present challenges to farmers.

In low price years, hopefully things work out to where at least yields are high to offset the the low prices, Moran said.

“Unfortunately for farmers, yields have got to be good for them to continue to do what they do,” he said. 

Looking ahead

Any early indicators for the 2025 crop so far?

“I try to keep my mouth shut for as long as possible, because things can change a lot between now and next July,” Moran said.

International customers are the largest audience for the report, since about 80% of the Northwest soft white wheat crop is exported, Moran said. They “pay pretty close attention to what the crop report looks like,” he said. They use it as a tool to make purchasing decisions and forecast what their year will look like.

“It’s always nice to have a year where we can tell everybody there’s nothing to worry about, it looks great,” Moran said.