The U.S. Great Plains region is suffering from three years of consecutive drought. With many Plains States producing much of the U.S. winter wheat crop, wheat farmers are bracing for what is expected to be one of the worst winter wheat crops in history. The weather-induced crop failure leaves global wheat supplies more vulnerable to shortages in tandem with uncertainty out of the Black Sea for Ukraine’s grain.

U.S. wheat stocks are projected to hit a nine-year low next month, leading to potentially higher bread and staple food prices. While a lack of rain or poorly timed rains drive stunted growth, seriously high winds are blasting wheat acres. Mike Schulte, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, says this type of compound weather disaster “hasn’t been seen in the last 25 to 30 years.”

Read more on the U.S. winter wheat crop here.