BILLINGS — While a global glut of wheat has many farmers abandoning wheat, Montana growers intend to plant more this year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual prospective plantings report said farmers nationwide planned to plant the fewest acres of wheat in a century. However The Billings Gazette reports that Montana farmers plan to grow 200,000 more acres (80,939 hectares) of wheat this year after shifting (0.4 million hectares) 1.2 million acres to other crops since 2014.
Friday’s report is based on a survey of farmers and is the first indication for the year of planting intentions
Montana is the fourth biggest wheat producer in the nation.
The United States has more than 1 billion bushels of surplus wheat and the oversupply has driven wheat farmers to shift previously planted wheat acres to soybeans.