(courtesy photo)
TOPEKA – Jay Armstrong, Kansas Wheat Commissioner from Muscotah joined Gov. Sam Brownback and Taiwanese trade delegation officials Thursday in signing a joint communique that Taiwan will buy $484.5 million of Kansas-grown Hard Red Winter wheat over the next two years.
The signing ceremony at the Statehouse in Topeka reflects the Taiwanese group’s intent to purchase 62.5 million bushels of hard red winter wheat in 2012 and 2013.
“The agreement to buy high-quality Kansas wheat is a significant contribution to our state economy,” Gov. Brownback said. “My administration will continue to work with Kansas farmers, grain elevators and universities to ensure that Kansas continues to produce the highest quality wheat in the world.”
Armstrong witnessed a similar signing in 1991. Then, he served on the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, and his father – Junior Armstrong – addressed the delegation at that time. Armstrong said he was proud to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“It is truly a testimony to the good relations that Kansas, the number one wheat state in the US, has had with Taiwan. Further proof that nations like individuals, when finding if they trade and do business together it is the salve that soothes our differences and strengthens our trust in one another,” Armstrong said. “This relationship has quadrupled U.S. wheat exports to Taiwan since these agreements began in 1978.”
Taiwan is the world’s sixth biggest buyer of American agricultural products.
“[This agreement] helps ensure the success of our two countries. I am sure the relationship will continue to flourish,” said I-Tsung Chen, leader of a delegation representing the Taiwan Flour Mills Association, who signed the communique with Mr. Armstrong. Gov. Brownback and Jacqueline Liu, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, witnessed the signing.
Taiwan is not a wheat-producing country and is expected to import 42.3 million bushels of wheat this year. In 2009, Kansas accounted for 13.6 percent of the nation’s wheat exports. The value of that export crop was $1.1 billion, or 25% of the total value of Kansas ag exports.
The Taiwan Flour Mills Association imports wheat on behalf of all 26 Taiwanese flour mills and has purchased about 450 million bushels of U.S. wheat worth more than $2.5 billion since 1998. On average over the past five years, Taiwan has imported about 33 million bushels (910,000 metric tons) of U.S. wheat each year. That amount represents about 80 percent of its imported wheat needs. This includes an average of about 20.1 million bushels of hard red spring (HRS), 8.8 million bushels of hard red winter (HRW) and 3.9 million bushels of soft white (SW). Heavy use of HRS reflects a need for strong gluten flour for breads, rolls and frozen dough products as well as for blending with HRW flour to make traditional Chinese flour foods and noodles. Soft white imports, including western white, help meet growing demand for cake, cookie and pastry flours.
USW Country Director Ron Lu and his Taipei-based staff have an excellent working relationship with TFMA and the Taiwan baking industry. For example, together with other U.S. agricultural export development organizations, USW is conducting a healthy bread promotion there through the U. S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Broad-Based Initiative program. Interest in whole wheat products is also growing in Taiwan. USW is providing technical assistance and education to millers and bakers to help them produce better quality, better tasting whole wheat products. In fact, Taiwan’s government is relying on USW to help establish national standards for whole wheat flour and baked goods, and asked TFMA and USW to help design a program encouraging Taiwan consumers to eat whole wheat products daily.