22,000 Producers Received BQA Certification; Wheat Supplies Up 6 percent

More than 21-hundred producers across the U.S. became certified for free through the checkoff-funded Beef Quality Assurance program this year. Throughout the program’s four-years - nearly 22,000 producers have received free BQA certification. Iowa producer Scott Niess says being BQA-certified gives him and the packer he works with the confidence that he is treating his animals correctly. Most importantly - he says certification gives consumers the confidence that he is doing everything he can to ensure the health and nutritious value of the beef they purchase.

The latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report was released Tuesday. U.S. wheat supplies for 2015/16 are projected up 6-percent from 2014/15 on higher beginning stocks and production. All wheat production is projected at 2,087 million bushels, up 3 percent. U.S. feed grain supplies are projected to slightly exceed the record level of a year ago as larger beginning stocks more than offset lower expected production. Corn production is projected at 13.6 billion bushels, down 586 million from the record 2014/15 crop with a lower forecast area and yield.