The same week as Brazil became the second country to approve the planting of GMO wheat, BASF announced it’s halting work to develop hybrid wheat in North America. The move is one the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) fears could ultimately drive more wheat acres out of the U.S., unless more public and private investments into research and development are made.

At the last USDA Ag Outlook Forum (AO), department economists indicated of the three main crops, wheat area is projected to increase the most in response to continued high global prices and tight U.S and global supplies, partially due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Total wheat planted area for 2023/24 is projected at 49.5 million acres, up nearly 3.8 million acres from last year and the highest wheat area since 2016/17.

As the end of February approached, there were unfortunate sell-offs in the markets, and not just wheat, but across all commodities. “Wheat has probably dropped the hardest,” said Jim Peterson, market director for the North Dakota Wheat Commission, explaining that February can be one of those periods when the market starts shifting into the 2023 outlook and moving off of old crop as one of the reasons for the sell-off. In other news, USDA held its outlook conference the third week in February and projected a pretty good rebound in corn acres and also wheat.

One of the world’s top wheat exporters is poised to add to an already abundant breadbasket. Acres of non-durum wheat in Canada could rise as much as 7.3% in 2023 as growers shift acres away from oats and pulses, said Neil Townsend, chief market analyst at FarmLink in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Ukraine sees no need to limit wheat exports for the upcoming 2023/24 July-June season, as the winter harvest looks to be larger than expected, albeit smaller than in peacetime, a top agriculture ministry official said. Ukraine was the world's fifth-largest wheat exporter before the war with Russia, and its shipments were especially important to poor countries in Africa and the Middle East. Based on results collected by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food as well as satellite images, farmers planted more wheat in southern areas than the ministry had forecast in autumn.

Concerns are growing in the U.S. that the European Union’s push to cut pesticide usage in half under the Farm to Fork scheme could have a major impact on the ability of U.S. farmers to export to the 27-nation bloc. The goal is still aspirational, but EU regulators are now going through the complex process of turning it into regulations. Many in the U.S. are concerned that American farm commodities — grown with the same inputs that the Europeans are trying to restrict — will not be able to be exported to EU customers.

The United Nations Secretary will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv to discuss extending a deal with Moscow that allows the Black Sea export of Ukraine grains amid Russia's war in the country. The Secretary-General will discuss the continuation of the deal "in all its aspects and other pertinent issues.The 120-day deal, initially brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July and extended in November, will be renewed on March 18 if no party objects.