Caillavet said the small rice crop worldwide also is contributing to the increased demand for wheat. Stock levels of wheat are decreasing rapidly due to the reduced acreage and yields in the 1995 crop. The MSU-based economist added that consumption will outpace supply by about 7 million metric tons this year. The yield on those 69.4 million harvested acres also was down almost 2 bushels per acre from the previous year. Midwest weather has an impact on wheat prices, even though the crop is harvested.
Price fluctuations are common as speculators jump in and out of the market activity.
We can expect to see unseasonably high wheat prices to continue. While Mississippi's total acreage was up slightly in 1995, yields were down. Caillavet said a few poor wheat crop years in the early '90s have caused growers to trend toward fewer wheat acres. John Coccaro, Sharkey County agent, said wheat plantings were down considerably. Several factors contributed to the reduced plantings last fall.