Montana Spring Wheat ‘Down Considerably’ as Prices Fall Sharply
Wheat prices are currently down due to great harvests worldwide. Outreach Coordinator for Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, Steve Becker explains what this means for Montana.
“In Montana we are in a special situation because we have extremely high quality wheat here,” said Becker. “Particularly in the Asian markets where they have very stringent demands for what the quality of the wheat is. Our buyers are still very interested in Montana wheat.”
According to Becker, Montana wheat has a large amount of protein, but that didn’t stop the prices from dropping nearly fifty percent.
“It has been a very heavy reduction,” Becker said. “We used to see per bushel a six dollar bushel of wheat and there have been times it has climbed well above that. Now we have seen these prices drop down in the $2.60 range to $3.50 range.”
Becker says Montana farmers have dramatically reduced the amount of wheat being grown and that many have begun to sow pulse crops or barely during the drop in wheat prices.