Wheat prices hit two-month high of US$7.865/bushel on Aug. 23 as USDA report shows conditions of U.S. spring crop deteriorated amid bad weather

Andrew Rogers

LOS ANGELES , August 24, 2011 (Industry Intelligence) – After a U.S. Department of Agriculture report said bad weather in the northern U.S. has hurt spring wheat crops, December delivery wheat hit a two-month high of US$7.865 a bushel Aug. 23, Bloomberg reported the same day.

As of Aug. 21, around 62% of spring wheat was in good or excellent condition, down from a week prior and well below the 82% rating last year, the USDA said Aug. 22. Yields have felt pressure from excess rains during sowing, hot weather and disease, the North Dakota Wheat Commission said.

Although the quality of wheat is adequate, yields are light, which is causing a drop in total production, Spectrum Commodities owner Louise Gartner said.

As of Aug. 22, around 20% of Germany’s wheat crop was left in the ground due to excess rainfall, which is curbing the quality of the crop, a report by the U.K.’s Home-Grown Cereals Authority said.

Without rain on the currently dry U.S. plains, plantings scheduled for September and October may not emerge from this soil, Texas A&M University said.

Wheat is the fourth-largest crop for the U.S., the world’s largest exporter, and had a total value of $13 billion in 2010, coming in behind corn, soybeans, and hay, according to government data.

The primary source of this article is Bloomberg, New York, New York, on Aug. 23, 2011.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.