Farmers in Kansas, the largest wheat producer, are breathing easier now that late summer rain put needed moisture in their winter wheat fields. Rain also fell on Oklahoma and Texas wheat fields.
At a time when farmers and grain merchants are worried about the ability of railroads to move grain, USDA reports that grain harvest plus grain stocks this year will exceed storage space in seven states by 694 million bushels, the largest shortage of space since 2010.
Part of the shortage is due to much of the 2013 harvest still being in grain bins at the start of this year’s harvest. Some of the shortage can be alleviated by emergency or temporary storage, which USDA sometimes allows.
