While attending the U.S. Wheat Summer Business Meeting in Oklahoma City, Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Outgoing Chairman for U.S. Wheat Associates, Michael Peters about the legacy of his five-year term.
U.S. Wheat Associates has thirteen offices overseas, each of which serves several countries. Peters said, “It has been very rewarding and also humbling. Serving as Chairman of U.S. Wheat, you are representing the U.S. wheat farmers and the quality of wheat that they produce in seventeen different states, as well as overseas in the several countries that we export our wheat to.”
“U.S. Wheat prides itself on quality and service,” Peters said. “Our staff overseas is constantly working to maintain connections with mills and bakeries. From the biggest importers to the smallest ones, the thing that they all know is that if there is a problem, they can call a U.S. Wheat office and there will be someone there to help them.”
While U.S. Wheat itself never sells a bushel of wheat, they serve as an intermediary between buyers, or importers, and sellers, but Peters emphasized that the service that they provide is through technical offices, bake schools, and other such methods to maintain customer satisfaction overseas.
He explained that the last few years have been difficult with exports because U.S. prices have been higher than that which is exported from countries like Russia, whose wheat floods the market, but they have worked hard to stay in the market and maintain their position.
“It’s been a real honor and pleasure to be a part of that, and five-years from now, the contacts I’ve made won’t remember my name, but they will remember that there was a producer there from the United States, and they really care about that. They love to see and hear about the family stories from the family farms,” he said warmly.
Being a native Oklahoman, Peters takes great pride in what his state produces. “We have the best wheat breeder in the world. I’ve been all over the globe and wherever you mention Brett Carver, everyone knows who he is. We are very fortunate in the state to have him because his varieties are always top-notch quality,” he gushed.
Reminiscing about some of his global adventures, he told of experiencing a 7.1 magnitude earthquake while attending a buyers’ conference in Bali, Indonesia. “Me, being a typical Oklahoman used to tornados, I walked down to the beach to see the wave I thought was coming,” he said with a laugh.
During a trip to Argentina for a similar meeting, he offended a man with a cigar by suggesting that it smelled like Cuban quality. “Little did I know that Argentina makes the best cigars!” he said. “The next night, that same individual brought me a package of cigars and he and I really hit it off that evening, but again, he’s not going to remember my name, but he’s going to think ‘U.S. wheat producers were here, and they are real people.”
He said that he really enjoyed visiting Israel, and mentioned a mill owner in Korea who seems to think that Peters has a cow in his pasture with the man’s name on it waiting for him to visit so he can pet it.
Looking ahead to the end of his term, Peters will spend the rest of the year helping to transition the new U.S. Wheat officers into their positions and continue to serve the Wheat Commission for a few more years. “My goal has always been to get the word out about what the Wheat Commission and U.S. Wheat do, but I feel like I failed on that. So, hopefully, I can hit some chambers of commerce and meetings throughout Oklahoma to get the word out to producers about how important organizations like the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and U.S. Wheat Associates are and what they do for us.”
This mission is personal to Peters as his work with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission began when he wanted to know where his funds were being used. Executive Director Mike Schulte invited him to run for a district opening.
He said, “It did not take me long to figure out exactly what these funds do. We do a lot with a small budget to promote U.S. wheat, Oklahoma wheat, our big market in Mexico. We do a lot with rail issues that people don’t see. As far as policy issues, we have some great policy guys with the U.S. Wheat staff who are constantly dealing with MRI issues, insect issues in grain that’s getting shipped, or all of the sudden, a country overseas worries about the wheat having to many chemicals in it. Our staff is always right there to work through those issues, but that comes at a price. It costs money to have people like that in those positions.”
