This picture comes from Lake County, Illinois. One of the first signs of spring can be the sight of winter wheat starting to emerge after all the snow has melted. Winter wheat is planted in fall after harvest has been completed. The crop lies dormant during winter and is insulated by the snow cover. It will start to continue to grow after the snow cover melts. The planted acres of winter wheat are down this year by 6 million acres in the U.S. because the wet harvest did not allow farmers to get in their fields and plant it, and grain prices did not justify the plant for some farmers. The USDA estimates that 2009/2010 U.S. wheat ending stocks are above 1 billion bushels for the first time in 22 years.

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