Acreage of wheat dropped to 63 million acres this year, the lowest since 1973, and 25 million acres below the 88 million acre high in 1981. Yields are estimated to be 42.3 bushels providing a crop of 2.3 the same as last year. Indiana wheat acreage at just over 500,000 acres was the same as last year and the lowest planted acreage in over 25 years. Yields however reached records of 69 bushels exceeding last year's record of 66 bushels per acre. Domestic utilization will fall, led by dwindling feed use as a result of low corn and feed grain prices.
Futures carrying charges are quiet large for wheat.
This means it should be considered as a good crop to keep in storage, at least if the wheat is priced for forward delivery. Forward pricing for later delivery should be a way to gain favorable returns for wheat storage. For many, on-farm storage space will be limited this year so each producer should evaluate which crop has the best prospects of providing the highest return for the limited space. At this writing that appears to be either corn or wheat. Indiana wheat acreage is expected to rise for next year.