A surprising drop in USDA’s estimate of U.S. wheat production in the September 30 Small Grains Summary Report helped support the trend of higher U.S. and world wheat prices. The recent sustained run-up in prices calls to mind another (and even more challenging) bull wheat market beginning in marketing year 2006/07 and continuing through 2007/08.

In March 2008, then U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Senior Market Analyst Joe Sowers wrote in Wheat Letter that 2007/08 had been a remarkable year. He noted that “unforeseen weather calamities around the globe and major wheat exporters protecting supplies for domestic use” helped push stocks to their lowest level in 60 years and drove prices to record highs at the time. That supply shock followed a period in which wheat use outpaced production in 7 of the prior 10 years. Read Sowers’ article here.

Lower world wheat supplies and some key exporters still trying to hold down domestic food prices are also fueling the current market rally.

Today’s Supply Issues

The challenges reducing worldwide wheat production and global stocks are well known at this point. The most recent Small Grains Report listed all wheat total production 10% below 2020 at 44.9 MMT (1.65 billion bushels). The report also fell short of average industry estimates and the NASS August projections. Despite a 5% increase in planted area in 2021 compared to 2020 and harvested area being up 1%, dry conditions ultimately trimmed total production. Winter wheat production was up 9% compared to 2020 while spring wheat bushels were down 44% compared to 2020, their lowest level since 1988. Durum wheat was down 46%.

The latest USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report released October 12 also signaled lower production. USDA cut world wheat production by 4.4 MMT and trimmed ending stocks by 6 MMT. The report briefly sent U.S. wheat futures higher (followed on October 13 by managed money profit-taking). The report showed that for the second year in a row, ending stocks have declined following a long period of sustained annual growth. Compared to the highest ending stocks on record in 2019/20, ending stocks this year are down more than 17 MMT. USDA now projects 2021/22 world use to outpace production by 11.0 MMT — while global wheat demand continues to set new records.

Drought conditions in Canada, the United States and Russia, along with quality issues in the European Union, have cut exportable wheat supplies.

Intervention Raises Import Cost

As it did in 2007/08, government intervention continues to hurt the world’s wheat importers. Russia’s export tax, which keeps going up, has helped increase global wheat prices. Russia’s agriculture ministry also laid out plans for an export quota beginning February 15 and lasting through the remainder of the 2021/22 season ending June 30, 2022. In Ukraine, which had better-growing conditions than neighboring Russia and is on an export pace well ahead of last year, the government and grain association are still at odds over what to do with surplus wheat. Kazakhstan was the first to announce plans to limit wheat exports but in early September the Kazak president called that idea “premature.”

The bull wheat market from 2006 to 2008, seen here in U.S. wheat futures prices, was fueled by sharp drops in global wheat supplies from bad weather and intervention by some exporting countries’ governments. Supply and intervention also helped push prices up in late 2010. That pattern emerged again in 2020 as the market reacted to shorter supply and continued, trade-distorting government policies.

Differences and New Challenges

Will the current pressure on global wheat supplies continue? That remains to be seen. Higher prices do tend to stimulate an increase in planted area. Wheat varieties around the world are much improved from 13 years ago in their ability to perform better under production stresses. Farmers in every major exporting country are managing their crops better and in more sustainable ways.

New circumstances have added concerns for wheat importers. The ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including its contribution to dramatically rising freight costs with record recent gains in the Baltic Index, are unprecedented.

The critical consideration for wheat buyers and flour users today, as it was in 2007/08 when Joe Sowers wrote about that remarkable year, is whether they can rely on good weather to increase supplies and reduce world wheat prices for the rest of 2021/22 and into 2022/23.

By Michael Anderson, USW Market Analyst

USDA’s August 2021 World Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) report trimmed expected global wheat production, reduced the global wheat stocks-to-use ratio and created a supply shock market rally. USDA dropped total production to 777 million metric tons (MMT), 15.4 MMT less than its July forecast, citing major weather problems in Russia, Canada and the United States. Global wheat use forecast for 2021/22 is 787 MMT.

Wheat supply is of course a major variable in global price discovery and is related to the “stocks-to-use” ratio, representing the level of carryover stocks as a percentage of the total demand or use. These new USDA estimates reduced the global stocks-to-use forecast to 35%, which, if realized will be its lowest since 2016/17. If China’s massive wheat stocks are removed from the calculation (China exports very little wheat), the stocks-to-use estimate is 21.6%.

Global wheat stocks-to-use percentage has declined after an eight-year run-up. Source: USDA August 2021 WASDE and USW Supply and Demand Report.

Guy Allen, Senior Economist at IGP Institute at Kansas State University, points out that an important consideration when looking at the wheat stocks-to-use ratio is to compare the ratio to corn as well. While wheat is primarily a food grain, it can compete with feed grains given relative prices or regional shortages. The current global stocks-to-use ratio forecast for corn is 24%, also lower than its ratio the past few years.

Supply Shock Source

How did the world get to this point? Global use continues to set records each year and ending stocks declined in 2020/21 and again this marketing year. It is major exporting countries taking the supply hit this year. In fact, Stratégie Grains, a French grains analyst, said that the stocks-to-use ratio for major exporting countries could fall to its second-lowest level on record after 2012/13.

USDA slashed Russia’s production forecast 12.5 MMT to 72.5 MMT. The Russian statistical agency, Rosstat, reduced the number of winter wheat acres harvested while the Ministry of Agriculture reported lower yields. In Canada, the Prairie Provinces saw production decline after persistent drought slashed yields by 24% compared to the 5-year average. USDA reduced its Canadian production forecast by 32% compared to 2020/21 to 24.0 MMT. If realized, it will be the smallest Canadian wheat crop since 2010/11.

U.S. Wheat Balance Sheet

USDA also lowered U.S. production 7% compared to last year as drought has affected several wheat-growing areas including the Northern Plains states and the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The total stocks-to-use ratio in the U.S. is forecast at 30% for 2021/22, down 10% from 2020/21’s total stocks-to-use ratio of 40%. This is not surprising considering that all wheat classes started with lower beginning stocks in 2021/22 and of the five wheat classes tracked by the USDA in its monthly report all wheat classes except for hard red winter (HRW) and soft red winter (SRW) are expected to have lower ending stocks. Even with the higher production in HRW and SRW, the stocks-to-use ratio is forecast lower for all wheat classes in 2021/22. U.S. white wheat, primarily soft white grown in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) is the most affected with 16% stocks-to-use compared to 21% last year.

USDA now expects the 2021/22 stocks-to-use ratio for each major U.S. wheat class to decline. Source: USDA August 2021 WASDE and USW Supply and Demand Report.

With harvest well underway for many classes (HRS, S.W.) and complete for HRW and SRW the market is getting a better indication of how accurate the USDA’s production number is. The September WASDE report will account for more known production in the United States and other major exporting countries. USDA will also publish its quarterly Grain Stocks report at the end of September that will also add to our understanding of how much wheat is available.

By USW Market Analyst Michael Anderson

By Michael Anderson, USW Market Analyst

Hard red spring (HRS) futures rose $0.85 week-over-week to close at $8.10 per bushel on Friday, June 4, a level nearly $3.00 more per bushel than they were a year ago. Some recent rain in western Canada took some pressure off HRS prices, but severe drought in North Dakota, the top producing HRS state, remains the crucial market factor. AgriCensus on June 8 said the USDA is likely to slash its spring wheat forecast in its June 10 WASDE report, following the prolonged period of drought.

An unusually dry winter with very little snow cover meant that soil moisture was far below average for the state when spring wheat planting started. Dryness persisted through planting, and following very cool conditions, the HRS production region had been in one of the hottest and driest periods in over 30 years. The dry soil makes it hard for rain to absorb into the hard ground when it has come in localized areas, leading to water runoff. The unusual heat causes the moisture to evaporate quickly.

More Concerned

Erica Olson, Market Development and Research Manager for the North Dakota Wheat Commission (NDWC), remains optimistic but said the HRS and durum crops are definitely stressed. She said rain is needed now, and consistent rain needs to follow. In 2017, North Dakota experienced another dry growing season leading to lower yields and some abandonment. A key difference this year is the lack of soil moisture growers started with. Farmers tell her they are growing more concerned by the day.

Olson noted that they would see more abandonment and a smaller crop with below-average yields if things do not turn around.

Farmer anxiety over this year’s crop potential means that grain traders are having difficulty securing offers from growers. Unsure of their yield potential, many farmers are unwilling to commit to much forward sales, and if they have stored wheat to sell, they may expect prices to go higher. A U.S. wheat trader said rain is needed now and compared this year to 1988 when a severe drought cut spring wheat yields in half. The USDA’s initial crop condition rating for spring wheat is the “second-lowest first crop rating ever next to the disastrous year of 1988,” noted one wheat analyst.

“The word of the year will be ‘timely’ rains,” said NDWC Policy and Marketing Director Jim Peterson in an interview with DTN. That article pointed to many factors affecting the current wheat conditions in the Northern Plains. While dryness is expected to continue in the near term, conditions can change quickly.

Speaking of things changing quickly, after this story was written and scheduled to publish June 9, south-central North Dakota received some respite with isolated rain showers overnight on June 8. More rain is expected this week; however, it may not be enough or soon enough to turn conditions around.

Source: North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network

Canada

Farmers in the Canadian Prairie Provinces are also experiencing unseasonably hot weather but recently received what was dubbed the “billion-dollar rainfall” for their spring wheat crops.

USDA reported that drier conditions returned to Manitoba, but beneficial showers continued elsewhere, further improving emerging spring grains and oilseeds prospects. Most agricultural districts in Manitoba received less than 5 mm, with near-complete dryness in Canada’s Red River Valley.