WASHINGTON — Whole wheat flour production totaled 4,206,000 cwts in the second quarter of 2026, nearly unchanged from 4,211,000 cwts in April-June 2025, according to data released Aug. 3 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the US Department of Agriculture.

Production in the second quarter also was nearly the same as 4,219,000 cwts in the first quarter of this year, a figure that NASS revised upward by 308,000 from its initial estimate issued in May.

The revision of the first-quarter figure and the release of the April-June estimate of 4,206,000 cwts change the complexion of trends in whole wheat production to an environment that could be characterized as stabilizing rather than one that is steadily slumping. While well below figures before 2025, production in four of the last five quarters has held in a range between 4.2 million and 4.3 million cwts.

Similarly, the share of total flour production accounted for by whole wheat has steadied. Second-quarter whole wheat flour production equated to 4.1% of total US flour production, unchanged from the first quarter and the same as the second quarter last year. Whole wheat’s share now has stood at 4.1% for five consecutive quarters.

Year-to-date whole wheat flour production was 8,425,000 cwts, down 274,000 cwts, or 3.1%, from 8,699,000 cwts in January-June last year. Whole wheat flour production equaled 4.1% of total flour production in the period, down slightly from a 4.2% share for the first half last year.

Whole wheat semolina production in April-June was 72,000 cwts, unchanged from a year earlier, but up from 60,000 cwts in the first quarter. Whole wheat semolina accounted for 1% of total US semolina production in the second quarter, versus 0.9% a year earlier and 0.8% in January-March 2026.

Production of whole wheat flour ex-semolina in April-June was 4,134,000 cwts, down 5,000 cwts, or 0.1%, from 4,139,000 cwts in last year’s second quarter. Production was down 0.6% from 4,159,000 cwts in the first quarter.

Whole wheat accounted for 4.4% of the US flour ex-semolina total for the quarter, unchanged from a year earlier and the same as in the first quarter. 

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