U.S. Scales Back Harvest Estimate For Wheat in South
The Agriculture Department trimmed its estimate of the wheat harvest under way across the Southern Plains to account for drought damage, but recent rains have improved crop conditions in much of the Midwest.</br></br>The department's June crop report, released Friday, predicted a 1.62 billion-bushel winter-wheat harvest, down 2% from the May forecast and down 5% from last year's actual harvest of 1.7 billion bushels.</br></br>The damage isn't enough to fuel any acceleration in the nation's mild level of food-price inflation. U.S. wheat prices are depressed. Several of the U.S.'s wheat-exporting rivals, such as Australia and Canada, are sitting on large stockpiles in the wake of several good growing seasons.</br></br>As a result, the Agriculture Department didn't change its forecast that the price of a bushel of U.S. wheat will average about $2.65 this year, give or take 25 cents. Many farmers can't make a profit at that price.</br></br>Winter wheat, the biggest variety grown in the U.S., is planted in the fall and harvested in late spring. The wheat fields in the worst shape are located in Texas, where 59% of the crop is in very poor to poor condition, according to a government survey released a week ago.