Farmers Up Winter Wheat Plantings for First Time in 8 Years

Improving corn and soybean prices have gotten much of the market’s attention lately. At the same time, bullish fundamentals have compelled U.S. wheat farmers to increase plantings this fall for the first time in eight years. The world supply glut in recent years has subsided and there’s troublesome crop weather in other key growing regions around the world, yielding prices that currently set at or around four-year highs. According to recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data, wheat plantings for the 2021 crop are 46 million acres, up from 44.3 million a year ago. Though the market could fundamentally turn lower down the road as global stocks are restored, new outside factors like the consumer impulse to stockpile food supplies because of the COVID-19 pandemic could cause the pricing strength to persist on continued global demand. See more on the wheat situation.