August 21, 2006

US group wants wheat, corn price investigation

The National Farmers Union (NFU) of the US requested the Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigate discrepancies between wheat and corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade and the local cash prices offered to farmers, the union said in a press release this week.

The NFU said at most of its meetings for farmers, the issue of price discrepancy has continually arisen.

"Producers need to have the assurance that market concentration is not being used to manipulate the futures markets," NFU President Tom Buis said Wednesday in the release. "It appears that these price discrepancies represent unprecedented differences between cash and futures prices."

NFU urged the CFTC to analyse this issue in terms of the causes for this market "disconnect" and its economic impact on producers across the country, the release stated.

The organsation said the CFTC should review the effects of concentration within the grain sector and the economic impact it can have on producers across the country.