New Zealand farmers consider planting more milling wheat in face of global shortage

Arable farmers here are considering planting more milling wheat this autumn to help combat global shortages.

Ukraine is a major global producer of wheat – but following Russia’s invasion, the Ukraine government banned the export of wheat to preserve its food stocks.

This has resulted in supply fears causing global wheat prices to rise sharply.

Federated Farmers arable chair Colin Hurst said New Zealand grew about 100,000 tonnes of milling wheat and about 250,000 tonnes of feed wheat for stock.

“So we’re just looking into whether we could have a bit of a push to increase the area of milling wheat, we’ve started some initial talks with the government about this.

“It’s just about understanding this worldwide food security crisis and whether there’s an opportunity for New Zealand to assist with growing more grain.”

The Country

Tags: New Zealand, global shortages, Ukraine, Russia, export, grain, planting, prices, milling wheat