Grain and Oilseed Milling NAICS 3112

Apr 21, 2025 - Growing Market for Ancient Grains

• Ancient grains are making a comeback in modern commercial and home kitchens, at the expense of white flour, Food Manufacturing reported in March. Ancient grains are defined by the Whole Grains Council as those that haven’t been changed through breeding, and include buckwheat, amaranth, teff and Kamut, as well as seeds like quinoa known as “pseudocereals.” Food Business News reports that the US ancient grains market will grow from $90.4 million in 2022 to $142.3 million by 2028, a nearly 8% growth every year. By comparison, the all-purpose flour industry is expected to grow by only about 3% per year, according to a 2024 study. According to Brown University Health, ancient grains have more protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than refined all-purpose flours. In addition to health benefits, ancient grains are more sustainable, requiring less water, fertilizer and pesticides to grow.
• Burger chain Steak n’ Shake has announced plans to use "100 percent beef tallow," or animal fat, for cooking its fries instead of vegetable oil, raising the question whether other fast-food chains will follow suit, Newsweek reported in February. Cooking oils made from seeds (aka seed oils) have come under attack by some health influencers and, notably, Health Secretary RFK Jr., who has proclaimed that widely-used cooking oils such as canola oil and soybean oil are toxic and posted on “X” in October "It's time to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again." Seed oils – including canola, corn, soybean, cottonseed, grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, and rice bran oils – have largely replaced tallow in American diets because they contain unsaturated fats that can decrease cholesterol levels, which should reduce the risk of heart disease. Under Kennedy, Newsweek notes, restaurant chains could come under pressure to dump seed oil in exchange for beef tallow.

• President Trump’s trade policy could present an opportunity to oilseed millers as import tariffs on vegetable oils spur the US crush industry to build new plants and expand capacity, AgWeek reports. Plans for domestic expansion have been hindered because the US market has been awash in cheaper global supplies of feedstocks like used cooking oil from China, tallow from Brazil, and canola oil from Canada. However, the USDA projects that global rapeseed oil supplies will shrink by 13% over the coming year with sunflower seed oil stocks down 24%. As US imports of vegetable oils decline, domestic producers will see increased demand and purchase more corn, soybeans, and other oilseeds from US farmers, who could see their export markets dry up if foreign nations, notably China, retaliate with tariffs of their own.
• Employment by grain and oilseed milling firms grew 3.6% in January compared to a year ago followed in February by a 3.6% year-over-year increase in average wages at food manufacturers to $23.87 per hour, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Industry payrolls are growing with employment at record levels and wages near all-time highs. However, producer prices for grain and oilseed milling firms have been falling, down 3.6% in December compared to a year ago after dropping 6.8% in the previous December-versus-December annual comparison. Payroll growth amid declining sales and prices for producers puts stress on grain and oilseed millers margins.