07-03-2022, 07:45 AM
By Tom Lutey The Associated Press
Posted March 5, 2022 1:15 pm
Updated March 5, 2022 3:44 pm
With cash grain prices at record highs and Russia’s war on Ukraine likely to push them higher still, one might assume that farm trucks would be lining up a mile deep at grain elevators hoping to cash in as they’ve done before.
Not so, says Mitch Konen. The Fairfield wheat farmer said many farmers, himself included, were hit so hard by the 2021 drought that it took everything they could harvest just to fill contracts that were supposed to be just 30% of what they would cut in a normal year.
“You see US$10 cash prices, now. That’s only good if you’ve got it in the bin,” said Konen, past president of Montana Grain Growers Association. “There are probably not a lot of people who have grain in the bin to sell because they already sold it.”
Montana’s 2021 wheat harvest of 100.85 million bushels, was just 49% of the 10-year average, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The last time wheat prices were in this territory was 2008, the start of the Great Recession, a time when positive Montana grain sales buoyed a state economy that was being rocked by a collapse in the housing industry. It marked the first time state wheat sales were valued at US$1 billion or more.
This round of robust prices might not produce the same outcome, as Montana farmers enter the second year of an extended drought with little wheat in reserves and farmers concerned about whether spring moisture will turn things around.
......
Ukraine accounts for 20 million to 29 million metric tons of the world’s wheat exports, depending on the weather. That’s 10% to 15% of world exports
......
If Ukraine wheat doesn’t ship, or planted acres are down, it will influence export prices
......
Drought is a big concern this year for U.S. wheat, not just in Montana.
“We also had some new drought monitor information come out, and it’s pretty bleak across the U.S.,” Marn said. “Montana’s certainly the worst. But it’s a pretty bad situation, we’re kind of getting into a pretty critical time for the Southern Plains, where they’re looking to harvest not too far out.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/8661162/u-s-w...raine-war/
Posted March 5, 2022 1:15 pm
Updated March 5, 2022 3:44 pm
With cash grain prices at record highs and Russia’s war on Ukraine likely to push them higher still, one might assume that farm trucks would be lining up a mile deep at grain elevators hoping to cash in as they’ve done before.
Not so, says Mitch Konen. The Fairfield wheat farmer said many farmers, himself included, were hit so hard by the 2021 drought that it took everything they could harvest just to fill contracts that were supposed to be just 30% of what they would cut in a normal year.
“You see US$10 cash prices, now. That’s only good if you’ve got it in the bin,” said Konen, past president of Montana Grain Growers Association. “There are probably not a lot of people who have grain in the bin to sell because they already sold it.”
Montana’s 2021 wheat harvest of 100.85 million bushels, was just 49% of the 10-year average, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The last time wheat prices were in this territory was 2008, the start of the Great Recession, a time when positive Montana grain sales buoyed a state economy that was being rocked by a collapse in the housing industry. It marked the first time state wheat sales were valued at US$1 billion or more.
This round of robust prices might not produce the same outcome, as Montana farmers enter the second year of an extended drought with little wheat in reserves and farmers concerned about whether spring moisture will turn things around.
......
Ukraine accounts for 20 million to 29 million metric tons of the world’s wheat exports, depending on the weather. That’s 10% to 15% of world exports
......
If Ukraine wheat doesn’t ship, or planted acres are down, it will influence export prices
......
Drought is a big concern this year for U.S. wheat, not just in Montana.
“We also had some new drought monitor information come out, and it’s pretty bleak across the U.S.,” Marn said. “Montana’s certainly the worst. But it’s a pretty bad situation, we’re kind of getting into a pretty critical time for the Southern Plains, where they’re looking to harvest not too far out.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/8661162/u-s-w...raine-war/
