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Wheat production forecast up despite historically low winter wheat acres

USDA is projecting an increase in U.S. wheat production despite winter wheat acreage at its lowest level in more than a century.

Jennifer Bond, an analyst with the department, says production should be up about one percent year-to-year because of a larger percentage of harvested acres combined with trend yields.

“And also a bit of an expansion in the sum of spring and durum plantings.”

She expects prices to influence northern growers to plant more wheat and fewer soybeans in 2019.

Bond sees total use of wheat climbing slightly during the marketing year, which she says will help eat into projected stocks of just over one billion bushels.