wheat futures are called to start Tuesday's day session modestly firmer after overnight gains and with support from a friendly new government supply/demand report, traders and analysts said. Technically, CBOT July wheat has produced a bullish V-bottom reversal pattern on the daily bar chart, which suggests a market low is in place, a technical analyst said. The report was deemed bearish for corn and soybeans, however, and it will be hard for wheat to stay higher if the other markets are...

With fertilizer prices for farmers up 30 percent from a year ago and crop nutrients in tight supply, homeowners can expect to see a significant, although smaller, bump in costs for lawn and garden products this spring, experts say. Corn prices have doubled in recent months, helping farmers decide to devote up to 12 million more acres to the grain -- and sending suppliers such as The Andersons inc. scrambling to meet fertilizer demand, said Dennis Addis, president of the Maumee, Ohio-based...

Fruit crops aren't the only crops to be suffering as a result of the below freezing temperatures the past five nights. She looked at samples over the weekend and says the growth point of the crop has some damage, but the question is to what extent. Weiss says for fields that are new plantings this spring, you'll probably have a hard time finding plants that survived the cold because they were too tender. Weiss says if farmers want to take in the crop early because of the damage, it cannot...

Area crops and gardens could be in danger if temperatures fall below freezing during the next couple of days. Wheat is nearing its harvest time and is at an important point in its development, but it is a hardy plant. Corn plants with less than six leaves on them still have their growing tips below the ground and will be protected, Erwin said. One natural defense the young plants have going for them is that with the recent warm temperatures, the ground is still very warm. Though the plants...

Crops on the cusp of spring bloom have been met with an arctic chill that is making Midwest growers uneasy about eventual harvests for foods all over the pyramid. Advertisement Wheat growers were studying temperature readings and crop costs to decide whether to keep their crops or switch to corn. Still, extra wheat that was planted last fall may not yield as much as originally thought, and farmers switching to corn won't plant until next month. Wheat plants tolerate cold weather well over...