New incentive helps white wheat rather than traditional red

WICHITA, Kan. -- Hard red wheat's traditional dominance of the nation's breadbasket could be loosened a bit by incentives in the farm bill to grow hard white winter wheat, which is in greater demand for export.

The bill adds $20 million to other government wheat subsidies to build up white wheat production.

"We thought in order to get the mass of hard white wheat in the country, we needed to have this incentive ... after three years the incentive is off and white wheat will be strong enough on its own that the market will provide the incentive," said Ron Stoddard, executive director of the Nebraska Wheat Board.

Supporters argued that the subsidy was necessary to get enough white wheat planted so that the rest of the grain trade infrastructure -- such as grain elevators -- would gear up to handle it.

Nebraska, which last year grew 10,000 acres of white wheat and pioneered its own state-funded subsidy program for it, led the nationwide push to give white wheat an additional premium in the farm bill. Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado supported those efforts.

Kansas, the nation's top wheat producer, was neutral on the issue. The state's 9.4 million acres of wheat last year included only a tiny amount, 100,000 acres, of white varieties.

More flour

White wheat doesn't have the red bran coating of hard red wheat, and more flour can be extracted so bread and other products have a milder, sweeter flavor. Millers also are able to leave on white wheat its bran, which is a source of fiber and nutrients.

White wheat also is preferred for noodles. International demand includes the North African and Middle Asian flat bread markets.

The $20 million covers the next three crop years, beginning with hard white winter wheat planted in the fall of 2002. The program caps the total number of acres that can be enrolled in the program at 2 million, Stoddard said.

Just how much of that subsidy each grower gets depends on the total number of acres enrolled in the nation. The fewer acres enrolled, the bigger the individual cut.