MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Spring wheat prices have been on the rise all winter -- smashing previous records.

At the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, trading rose to $19.80 a bushel yesterday -- nearly triple the record from 1996. Trading closed at $19.35 a bushel.


Grain experts say the wild increases are due to a fear that grain supplies won't keep up with rising demand. Poor wheat crops worldwide have left wheat supplies at a 60-year low.

The impact of that shortage has fueled a wave of uncertainty about everything from food price inflation to possible hunger in the developing world.