Oregon Public Broadcasting

In the last couple of weeks, wheat farmers in the Northwest have seen higher prices for their crop.  The spike is largely attributed to Russia's wildfires and drought.

The higher wheat prices won't help Randy Suess much for this year, he's already contracted much of his wheat. But he says the run on wheat in the last couple of weeks has helped him lock-in a good price for next year.

Suess says wheat prices are calculated globally based on weather worldwide, supplies and even politics. So it might take a bit more than Russia's fires and drought to keep prices positive for Northwest farmers for long.

He thinks the market has overreacted, and will correct by the end of harvest season.

Randy Suess: "I think more is going to be telling down the road. Does Canada have a good crop? Does Europe have a good crop? Is there still the big corn crop out there like everyone anticipates?"

Suess says wheat and corn prices are closely related. He says this year's wheat crop is high quality from the cool, wet spring. But the rain has also delayed harvest by a week or two throughout the Northwest.