Montana wheat is in the bin, but bank accounts aren't full

[Ptah]

Montana’s winter wheat harvest is rapidly coming to a close, but nobody’s making any bread — at least not the money kind.

With winter wheat values as low as $2.16 a bushel this year, many farmers will lose money on grain. The state winter wheat crop was more than 80 percent cut Sunday. A record amount of wheat grown worldwide, combined with a strong dollar, is suppressing prices. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that there will 257.8 million metric tons of wheat in the world this year. At some Montana elevators, wheat is being piled on the ground.

The 2016 Montana crop could be just the third one in a decade valued at less than $1 billion, not only because of low prices, but also because many farmers who could plant something other than wheat did.

“It’s tough for Montana farmers to fix the situation because we don’t have a lot of options,” said Lola Raska, of the Montana Grain Growers Association.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/montana-wheat-is-in-the-bin-but-bank-accounts-aren/article_29b20274-1a9d-5480-9210-4453b1fbd4a5.html