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Wheat market gains ground as Black Sea exports face disruptions

U.S. wheat prices are improving amid continued disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

University of Minnesota Extension grain market economist Ed Usset says Ukraine is anticipating a significant reduction in exports.

“And it’s a big issue for us not only here in the north country, because Ukraine and Russia are major wheat exporters. They export the hard red wheat, which is direct competition for Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.”

He tells Brownfield the spring wheat market in the Upper Midwest is currently above $6 a bushel.

“So we’re trading $1.20, $1.30 better than our lows of last October. New crop bids, the last two years the September spring wheat contract sunk below $5.50. And it got there in the month of August.”

Usset says that market is $1.20 higher compared to the previous two Augusts, and he expects more volatility stemming from instability in the Black Sea and Strait of Hormuz.