Global wheat production is in 2011-12 to return to lagging demand, as weak prices prompt farmers to turn to other crops, according to reports.

Growers' impatience at flagging wheat prices, evident in a slump of 15% in US sowings in two years, will prompt them to continue turning to other crops such as corn, cotton and soy.

In light of the existing excess supply, it can be assumed that the trend of decreasing wheat acreages will continue, analysts said.

The decline - after two years when wheat production exceeded demand by 70 million tonnes, with a further surplus expected for 2010-11 - will prove sufficient to provoke a production deficit for the first time in four years.

Analysts expected that supply will fall short of demand by 2011-12 and that global wheat stocks will then start to fall.

Meanwhile, experts also forecast higher prices of corn, which would end the year at US$4 a bushel, and soy, which would hit US$10 a bushel, levels which the crops have respectively failed to hit since January.

Both crops would be supported by demand from China, where corn prices at double Chicago levels indicated a supply bottleneck, which will probably contribute to a decline in Chinese inventories.

While world soy production looked set to show a small surplus over demand in 2010-11, this could revert back to a deficit quite quickly if the trend of a growing Chinese demand for soy continues or if the supply ends up being lower than expected, analysts added.

Furthermore, the prospect of political setbacks in Argentina, a country prone to strikes, or infrastructure problems in Brazil, where farmers have been forced to store crop in fields, may lead to temporary supply shortages in South America, which would lead to a reduction in US soy stocks, pushing up soy prices, analysts said.