Planting wheat, which is harvested earlier in the season than corn and soybeans, helps farmers spread out their workload. Prices for corn and soybeans remain low ahead of 2019 planting. Farmers also are holding on to large stockpiles of soybeans waiting for prices to rise while the trade war with China, the largest buyer of U.S.-grown soybeans by far, continues.

“The futures markets, with some of the things going on in the soybean and corn market, don’t look good,” Wiersma said. “People are looking for alternatives, and wheat looks competitive.”

Still, corn and soybeans remain the dominant crops in Minnesota — with nearly 8 million acres of each planted in 2018. The 40 percent increase in wheat planted in 2018 was up from a historic low, and wheat advocates in Minnesota are skeptical that 2019 will bring another major increase.

“Even an uptick is kind of small peanuts compared to other crops,” said Lauren Proulx, a research coordinator with the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers in Red Lake Falls. “Of course we’re hoping that people want to grow wheat and see it as important in their farm. As for a big jump in acres, I’m cautious.”

Farmers generally set their crop rotations well in advance, and corn and soybeans are easier to grow. Futures prices later this winter will determine a lot about what is planted in Minnesota.

“I would err on the side of not believing people are just going to jump ship on a crop,” Proulx said. “If their crop plan is to plant soybeans next year, it’s going to be hard to switch that.”

Source: Adam Belz, Minneapolis Star Tribune