1-17 IAN Wheat and Heat

 Heat South of the border may put Idaho wheat farmers in the chips.

Idaho farmers are looking with interest to the scorching heat wave in South America. Farmers there are cutting harvest forecasts in one of the world’s key farm belts, that's spiking crop prices to two-year highs and feeding fears about tight global grain supplies, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Executive Director of the Idaho Wheat commission Blaine Jacobson comments on a heat wave in Argentina that will severely limit their wheat crop: “As one of the major harvesting areas, has a reduced harvest then it boosts the demand for wheat out of the U.S.”

That reduced supply could mean better market prices in the late spring for Idaho grain producers. Again Blaine Jacobson: “Half of the wheat out of Idaho is exported

Prices of corn, soybeans and wheat remain well below 2008 peaks, but analysts are expecting higher prices as the extent of crop losses in South America becomes clear. Some analysts warn of food price inflation.

“Food inflation is becoming a problem in emerging markets,” said Hussein Allidina, a commodities analyst at Morgan Stanley.