Wheat hits record as grain prices soar

USA TODAY, December, 2007 by Sue Kirchhoff

WASHINGTON -- Wheat prices hit a record $10 a bushel Monday as traders worried about tight world supplies and the United Nations called for urgent steps to aid poor nations that are being pummeled by shrinking food stockpiles and historic cost run-ups.

Wheat futures contracts for March delivery surged above $10.09 per bushel in trading in Chicago, before closing at $9.66 -- about double the price of a year ago. Grain prices have soared in recent months, with corn at $4.39 a bushel, compared with about $3 in 2006, and soybeans at more than 30-year highs. Dairy and rice prices have also jumped.

Wheat prices are jumping for a number of reasons, including bad weather in such exporting nations as Australia. Demand is rising in rapidly developing economies such as...