[b]Wheat prices rise, shattering records as fear of shortage looms
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Spring wheat prices have been on the rise all winter -- smashing previous records.
At the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, trading rose to $19.80 a bushel yesterday -- nearly triple the record from 1996. Trading closed at $19.35 a bushel.
Grain experts say the wild increases are due to a fear that grain supplies won't keep up with rising demand. Poor wheat crops worldwide have left wheat supplies at a 60-year low.
The impact of that shortage has fueled a wave of uncertainty about everything from food price inflation to possible hunger in the developing world.
For decades, agriculture's great problem has been surplus, not scarcity. And farmers have faced low prices while consumers benefited.
Experts say this week's action in Minneapolis previews a different sort of marketplace.
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