yolowire.com - Record rainfall is threatening wheat crops in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and France with potential implications for global prices and food security.
In France, which is Europe’s largest grower of wheat, farmers are bracing for their worst wheat harvest in more than a decade as non-stop rain has washed out fields and destroyed crops.
At the same time, the United Kingdom, another of Europe’s top wheat producers, is also dealing with constrained wheat production due to heavy and persistent rain.
The result is that Wheat prices across Europe could be driven higher in coming months as the shortage in Britain and France pressures global supplies.
Prices for wheat-based products such as bread, biscuits and beer are already moving higher in both the U.K. and France, according to media reports.
At the start of this year, wheat, barley and oat harvests in Europe were expected to fall by about 17% in 2024, according to analyst forecasts. Now, the decline is pegged at more than 30%.
The situation in Europe could lead to worsening food security around the world as wheat exports from the U.K., France and other European countries shrink in coming months.
At the same time, wheat farmers in the U.S. are reeling from two years of severe drought that has hurt their crops.
Farm income in the U.S. is forecast to decline 25% year-over-year in 2024, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. That would be the biggest annual decrease on record.
In Chicago, wheat is currently trading at $5.80 U.S. per bushel, down 16% over the last 12 months and currently at a six-week low.