Wheat Falls on Speculation Price Surge May Slow Import Demand

Wheat futures plunged the most since November on speculation that the highest prices in 29 months will slow demand and encourage farmers to plant more.

U.S. exporters sold 507,310 metric tons in the week ended Feb. 3, down 10 percent from a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. U.S. spring-wheat planting begins in April, and the area sown with winter wheat for this year’s crop is 9.8 percent bigger than last year, the USDA said last month. Wheat futures are up 69 percent in the past year.

“High prices beget low prices,” said Dan Kuechenmeister, the manager of the commodities department at RBC Dain Rauscher in Minneapolis. “All the agriculture markets are providing great incentive to try to produce a big crop.”

Wheat futures for March delivery fell 23.25 cents, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $8.6275 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, the biggest drop since Nov. 16.

Yesterday, the price touched $8.9325, the highest for a most-active contract since Aug. 25, 2008, after the USDA cut its outlook for global grain supplies. Drought last year slashed output inRussia, floods eroded crops in Canada and Australia, and dry weather in the U.S. threatened winter crops.

Wheat was the fourth most-valuable U.S. crop in 2009 at $10.6 billion, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-10/wheat-plunges-most-since-november-as-high-price-slows-demand-spurs-sowing.html)