The stunted wheat plants on Robert Ferebee’s parched North Dakota farm were in the worst condition he’d seen in almost three decades.
A drought across the northern Great Plains has forced growers like Ferebee to conclude that their wheat would be more valuable as cattle feed than baker’s flour.
While U.S. production already was expected to plunge this year because farmers planted the fewest acres in a century, the dry spell may erode output further.
North Dakota is the biggest grower, and the condition of fields in the state will be the focus of participants in the annual Wheat Quality Council crop tour, which starts next week.
On July 5, prices touched $8.685 a bushel, the highest since February 2013.
To be sure, most of the country’s winter wheat is grown further south, and harvest there is almost complete.
In the USDA’s crop report last week, the agency boosted its outlook for production of winter varieties by more than analysts expected.
For now, the USDA has said all but 1.7 percent of the spring-wheat planted this year in North Dakota still needs to be harvested.
“In some cases, farmers have already said they aren’t seeing any berries develop,” Goehring said, referring to the kernels on wheat plants.
Farm Credit Services of America is also seeing insurance claims in South Dakota, though some won’t occur until the fall, said Tony Jesina, a senior vice president.