USDA head: US farmers to help if Ukraine exports threatened

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — American wheat farmers will boost production and prevent supply chain problems in the event that a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine chokes off agricultural exports from the global grains powerhouse, the U.S. secretary of agriculture said on Saturday.

During a trade mission to the United Arab Emirates, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told The Associated Press that a conflict in Ukraine would present an “opportunity, obviously, for us to step in and help our partners, help them through a difficult time and situation.”

“We'll obviously continue to look for opportunities to expand those (export) markets,” Vilsack said from a sprawling fruit and vegetable market in Dubai, which he toured with a delegation of American business owners. “That’s the beauty of our system now.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said late Friday he was now “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to invade Ukraine in the coming days.

A Russian invasion and blockade of Ukraine could jeopardize the country's crucial wheat exports, which account for 12% of the world's total, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ukraine is also estimated to supply 16% of the world's corn exports this year. Its grain production has boomed over the last decade. Last year, the state harvested nearly 33 million metric tons of wheat, the USDA reported, a stark increase from the previous year.

The mounting tensions and militarization along the Russia-Ukraine border, along with pandemic-induced supply chain backlogs and spikes in fertilizer and farm equipment costs, helped push wheat prices to their highest level in nearly a decade last year.

A bushel of wheat was trading in Chicago at over $8 on Saturday — just below the multi-year high hit last...