The following article is from Bloomberg:
By Brian Chappatta
Wheat rose on concern that heavy rain in the northern U.S. Great Plains will reduce production.
In the week ended July 24, about 83 percent of spring wheat was beginning to form grain, compared with an average of 95 percent in the past five years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. An estimated 74 percent of the crop was in good or excellent condition, down from 83 percent a year earlier, the USDA said.
“The best shot wheat has at going higher is a weather problem,” Jeff McReynolds, the owner of McReynolds Marketing & Investments in Hays, Kansas, said in a telephone interview. “There has to be some threat to supply in order for wheat to go up.”
Wheat futures for September delivery rose 5.5 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at $6.94 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. The most-active contract has gained 18 percent in the past year.
Earlier, the price dropped as much as 1.3 percent as cheaper supplies from Russia eroded the appeal of shipments from the U.S., the world’s leading exporter.
Wheat is the fourth-largest U.S. crop, valued at $13 billion in 2010, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show.
Source: Bloomberg
Posted by Haylie Shipp
