What was the wheat production last year?

Wheat supplies around the world are at their lowest level in thirty years. Wheat supplies in the United States are at their lowest in sixty years. But the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome has some good news. It says a big increase in winter wheat plantings in northern countries is likely to result in much higher production this year. The F. A. O. points out, though, that these predictions are based on normal weather conditions.
     Wheat production last year is now estimated at just over six hundred million tons. That was up one percent from two thousand six--not as much as had been hoped. Almost all of the increase was among large producers in Asia. Prices are up sharply for wheat but also for most other cereal crops. The F. A. O. says big production increases may be required for more than one season for prices to fall much below their recent highs.