The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Chicago December wheat contracts continue to pound away at their life-of-contract lows. Over the entire his- tory of active trading from mid-September 2011, the December contract price reached highs of $9.13 per bushel in November 2012. Since that time 10 months ago, the trend has been lower, with the lowest point a couple of weeks ago at $6.35½. On Tuesday, the Chicago December finished the day session at $6.42, $2.71 below last fall's high.

For most producers, that is a major shift in income po- tential. Even for a "small" farmer, that could represent many thousands of dollars of gross incom...