Wheat sank to its lowest price since August last year as US farmers began harvesting what is expected to be the biggest winter grain crop in a decade, reports Bloomberg:

Production will increase 17 percent from a year earlier to 1.78 billion bushels, the most since 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts. About 4 percent more acres were seeded from September to November, the agency said. Wheat prices have tumbled 45 percent from a record $13.495 a bushel on Feb. 27.

May is a quiet month. The children are out of school, the heat and dust of the Indian summer swirls around. The discussions begin on where to go for the vacation. For how long? With which group of friends? And how much to spend.

Wheat prices may be set for a major spike after a UN warning that a new “highly pathogenic strain of wheat stem rust called Ug99″ threatens 25% of the world’s wheat crops.

This from The World Tribune:

Scientists and international organizations focused on controlling wheat stem rust have said 90 percent of world wheat lines are susceptible to Ug99. The situation is particularly critical in light of the existing worldwide wheat shortage.