8-25 IAN Blair on Wheat

 What’s up with wheat? It seems like only yesterday we were talking about cold, wet conditions that kept a lot of farmers from getting into the fields and planting. That certainly occurred in the case of Robert Blair who farms the Palouse region.  I caught up with Robert the other day on his cell phone as he was working his crop. The reception isn’t perfect but what he had to say is fascinating: “What I have been hearing is that the straw is green, the crop is right and is going to be pretty tough thrashing this year. There is so much moisture this year with these cooler mornings, it’s going to make for a little bit slower thrashing. I know that prices are going to be good but what about yields? Yields are all over the board, it depends on some areas in the lower country, they had some really good deals and some average yields, dependent upon rust, fertilizer, the whole 9 yards. I think you are going to see a whole bunch of different factors put in to play this year on yield. You’ve got the drought in the Midwest and South, that’s really going to cut in on supply, but this year we also have Russia in the market which is going to dump a lot of wheat on the world market. All these things coming into play, what do you think prices are going to be like come September?  You are seeing drought issues in Australia and the southern hemisphere, the soft white market you are going to have a really good crop, the drier areas are having a really good yield this year, red, there really is going to be as much because of the drought in the Midwest, you are looking at wheat being used for feed because it is a little cheaper than corn right now, so you are going to see some strength in the market because of that. T