09/05/07 Wheat prices

December wheat contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade topped eight dollars the other day. Cash white wheat in Portland $7.65 a bushel, hard red winter 7.56. Seven dollars a bushel for wheat is very common this summer. LARSON "Six dollars for soft white, we're still making a profit." Winston Larson was cutting wheat on his Rexburg farm and reflecting on some of the commodity prices he and his neighbors will get. LARSON "Thank goodness for high price hay unless you're feeding cattle but 130 dollars a ton for hay will work." But the good news is offset by some not so good news. LARSON "20 thousand more acres of potatoes planted in Idaho than there was a year ago which is going to be just going to be an absolute disaster." Like every other farmer Larson did all he could this year to cut down on his input costs, especially chemicals and fuel. LARSON "The workshops that Farm Bureau has had the charts show that the best time to buy fuel is the end of January, the first of February which we did for a $1.92 per gallon compared to $2.50." There's an even bigger concern on the horizon and that's a lack of water for the next growing season unless we get an adequate winter snowpack and normal runoff. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott