By Tony C. Dreibus Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. farmers planted the fewest acres of winter wheat in almost 100 years as excess rain interfered with fieldwork, the government said. About 37.097 million acres (15.013 million hectares) were seeded with winter wheat from August through November, down 14 percent from a year earlier and the smallest planted area since 1913, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today in an annual report. The average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News was 40.588 million acres. Growers planted 43.311 million acres with winter varieties in 2008. Parts of Ohio and Illinois, the largest soft-red winter wheat producers, had six times the normal rainfall during the planting season, according to National Weather Service data. Some growers in the U.S., the biggest wheat exporter, were unable to collect corn and soybeans on land where they usually plant winter wheat because of the wet conditions. “The late row crop harvest and wet weather delayed planting in most states,” the USDA said. Today’s report was released before the start of regular trading on the Chicago Board of Trade, where wheat futures for March delivery rose 4 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $5.725 a bushel yesterday. Growers planted 27.8 million acres with hard-red wheat, down 12 percent from last year, and 5.92 million acres with soft-red varieties, down 29 percent from 2008, the USDA said. White wheat acreage was 3.33 million. Wheat Supplies In a separate report, the department said unsold U.S. reserves of all varieties of wheat as of Dec. 1 totaled 1.765 billion bushels, up 24 percent from 1.422 billion a year earlier. Hard-red winter wheat is seeded in the southern Great Plains and used to make bread and pasta. The soft-red variety, grown in the eastern Midwest, is used to make cookies and cakes. White wheat is grown in the Pacific Northwest and used to make bread and noodles. Fewer acres may reduce the amount of grain available for processing into food and animal feed or for export. Futures gained 5.7 percent in the past month, partly on speculation that today’s acreage report would show growers seeded less. Wheat is the fourth-biggest U.S. crop, valued at $16.6 billion in 2008, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show. To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in Chicago at Tdreibus@bloomberg.net.

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