Pandemic Adds Pressure to U.S. Wheat Prices

Mar 23, 2020

By Claire Hutchins, USW Market Analyst

It is no secret that these are uncertain times. As countries across the world work to contain and combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is closely monitoring the effects of the outbreak on global wheat trade dynamics. According to a host of U.S. grain traders, it is too soon to tell the immediate effects of the pandemic on the international demand for U.S. wheat.

However, there is a clear relationship between the turbulence in global economic markets and the export price of U.S. wheat. Over the past several months, the export price for all classes of wheat out of the Gulf and Pacific Northwest (PNW) has fallen due to substantial pressure in the U.S. wheat futures markets, pressure that the pandemic has only increased.

Between late January and mid-March 2020, nearby Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soft red winter (SRW) wheat futures fell 12% from $5.74/bu to $5.06/bu. Nearby Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT) hard red winter (HRW) wheat futures fell 11% from $4.86/bu to $4.32/bu. Nearby Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) hard red spring (HRS) wheat futures fell 7% from $5.48/bu to $5.08/bu.

During the same period, PNW HRW 11.5% protein (on a 12% moisture basis) FOB prices fell 7% from $241/MT to $224/MT. Gulf HRW 11.5% protein FOB prices fell 9% from $235/MT to $214/MT and Gulf SRW FOB prices fell 13% from $262/MT to $228/MT.

Click here to see more...

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.