Ukraine Vs North Dakota

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Wheat prices rose 2.9%, the biggest gain in three weeks, amid concerns that unrest in Ukraine will slow grain exports from the country and that cold weather will hurt U.S. output.

Corn prices also climbed Friday, reaching a fresh five-month high.

Grain traders speculated that Ukraine's shipments of wheat and corn could decline amid mounting tensions between the country and Russia, which could boost overseas demand for U.S. crops.

So far, the unrest has yet to directly affect exports from Ukraine, which is expected by the U.S. Agriculture Department to be the fifth-biggest exporter of wheat and the third-largest shipper of corn in the current marketing year.

"This unrest could disrupt the ports and shipments, and if that would be the case, the U.S. could see a substantial amount of demand," said Ted Seifried, chief market strategist at brokerage Zaner Group in Chicago.

"At this point, the U.S. and [Ukraine] are the two most competitive countries as far as wheat and corn are concerned. It would be a really big deal" if Ukraine's exports fell.

Several story lines there: the biggest -- I did not realize the Ukraine was fifth in wheat, and third in corn. Second story line: when I think wheat, I think North Dakota. When I think corn, I think Iowa but North Dakota, also, has huge corn industry.