US wheat farmers deal with Biden pushed to increase production

 USA Today:

Clay Schemm's great-grandfather moved to Kansas in the 1920s with a tractor and not much else.

The cash crop was wheat.

Today, Schemm, 26, continues that tradition at farms in his home of Sharon Springs, Kansas, near the state's western border and a few hundred miles away in eastern Kansas.

On the other side of the world, Russia's war in Ukraine has Schemm rethinking this year's harvests, just as the Biden administration is encouraging U.S. farmers to produce more wheat in response to the disruption of the market caused by the war in Ukraine, one of the world's top producers.

But Schemm said it might not be realistic for many reasons: growing seasons that are slow to respond to the unfolding crisis, federal incentives for double-cropping that aren't viable in most of his acres, and a volatile wheat market. Wheat prices have fluctuated wildly after it soared for weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February.

"Even that little bit drop in price has me very hesitant to go back in with wheat in the eastern farms," Schemm said.

More: How Russia's war against Ukraine could make our food prices – from bread to beer – more expensive

Biden heads Saturday to Germany for a meeting of the world's most powerful nations that make up the Group of Seven, or G7, where among the top priorities is addressing a global wheat shortage caused by Russia's war in Ukraine.

International organizations warn that supply disruptions caused by the war are aggravating already high prices, which complicates access to food in some Northern African countries and parts of Asia that depend on Ukraine's wheat supply.

Yet even U.S. farmers like Schemm who want to ramp up their production can't do so easily, raising doubts that the U.S. can fill much of the void left by the war in Ukraine.
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The shortages in Ukraine could increase the world price of wheat, but I do not see a shortage for US consumers at this point.  It could take a while for the US farmers to increase production to offset the Ukraine shortages.

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