U.S.: 2025 SRW Wheat Crop Shows Good Quality and Value Despite Growing Season Challenges

The first detailed report released by U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) on the quality of the 2025 wheat crop focuses on the soft red winter (SRW) wheat crop. Despite environmental challenges throughout the growing season, the overall crop exhibits good milling characteristics and strong market value.

“Buyers should be satisfied with the excellent quality and competitive price of the 2025 U.S. SRW wheat crop,” said Erica Oakley, USW vice president of programs. “Processors will find a versatile crop suitable with good qualities for cookies and crackers. With functional protein and good extensibility, the crop should also be valuable in blending for baking applications.”

SRW is the third largest class of wheat grown in the United States, produced predominantly east of the Mississippi River and the South and far west as northeast Texas and southeast Kansas. This production region generally experienced a mostly dry winter, which was followed by plentiful mid-season rainfall. Although planted acreage lowered slightly in 2025, areas of higher yields helped offset the decline, resulting in comparable production levels year-over-year. For the 2025/26 marketing year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated SRW wheat production at 339 million bushels (9.2 million metric tons), slightly below last year’s 342 million bushels (9.3 MMT).

Importers and the domestic milling and baking industries use SRW for specialty products such as cookies (biscuits), crackers, snack foods and cake flour. SRW is also a versatile wheat for blending with hard red spring (HRS) and hard red winter (HRW) wheat to lower grist cost and improve bread crumb texture or to improve the quality and appearance of a wide variety of products.

For this year’s crop quality report, the Great Plains Analytical Laboratory in Kansas City, Missouri, collected, tested and analyzed 219 samples from elevators in 18 reporting areas across 11 states. Sampled states account for an estimated 71% of the total 2025 U.S. SRW production.

The average grade for the 2025 SRW harvest survey is U.S. No. 2 SRW. Test weights in the Gulf region remained relatively unchanged, while the East Coast samples, smaller in number, showed a decline due to increased rainfall during harvest.

Gulf region wheat had lower protein content this year, likely due to increased grain yields, while East Coast wheat showed higher protein content. Falling numbers in both regions were lower than average.

For flour data, extraction rates were slighter lower than last year. Solvent Retention Capacity (SRC) profiles in the Gulf were generally consistent with the average, supporting traditional uses like cookies, crackers and cakes. In comparison, East Coast SRC values were slightly higher than last year and the five-year average, better aligned with cookie performance or other low-moisture products.

Based on the quality analysis, USW does recommend buyers review quality specifications as there were pockets of higher enzymatic activity and vomitoxin. This wheat should naturally flow into animal feed channels and not into milling or export supplies.

“We encourage customers to review their quality specifications to ensure they receive wheat that meets their needs for traditional soft wheat products or blending with stronger wheat,” Oakley said. “Overall, buyers should find good quality in the 2025 SRW crop.”

With analysis complete, USW will now take the data from the report to its customers around the world during the annual crop quality seminars. The seminars will dive more into the grade factors, protein levels, flour extraction rates, dough stability, cookie diameter, and more while being tailored to the needs and trends of each regional SRW market.

Tags: yield, U.S., soft red winter wheat, quality, Production, wheat, crop