Bloomberg Wheat Prices Rise to One-Month High as Kansas Crop Deteriorates

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat prices rose to a one-month high on speculation that rains failed to relieve a drought in parts of the southern U.S. Great Plains, eroding prospects for winter plants emerging from dormancy.

Crops in Kansas, the largest U.S. wheat-growing state, were rated 42 percent good or excellent as of March 12, down from 45 percent a week earlier, after the state got little precipitation, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday.

“It looks like the dry weather is starting to catch some interest,” said Larry Glenn, an analyst at Frontier Ag in Quinter, Kansas. “Concern is increasing in the grain states.”

Wheat futures for May delivery rose 8.25 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $5.525 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price earlier reached $5.5375, the highest for a most-active contract since Feb. 11. Yesterday, the grain jumped 5 percent, the most in three months. Wheat has tumbled 51 percent in the past year on increased global production and shrinking demand. more...