US wheat futures leapt yesterday on concerns unfavorable dryness will reduce output in key growing areas of the Plains.

Soft red winter wheat for May delivery, the most-active contract, settled 12 1/4 cents, or 1.5 per cent, higher at $8.23 1/2 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade.

Poor weather supported gains as western portions of the central and southern Plains have been too dry since hard red winter wheat was planted last fall, traders said.

Dryness and episodes of strong winds are expected to stress plants in the area during the next 10 days, according to private forecaster Telvent DTN.

Farmers in western Kansas, the country's top wheat-growing state, "went through most of the winter with minimal moisture, and wheat is pretty fragile right now," said Dean Stoskopf, a Kansas wheat farmer and member of the Kansas Wheat Commission.

Traders are nervous about the potential for production problems after prices reached 2 1/2-year highs early last month on an uptick in demand and concerns about dwindling supplies of milling-quality wheat. Futures have since pulled back 11.5 per cent.

Users of wheat are particularly concerned about threats to hard red winter wheat, a good-quality variety used to make bread, because poor weather has tightened global supplies of wheat that can be milled into flour.

The US, the world's top grain exporter, is seen as one of the last sources for milling-grade wheat after a drought slashed output in Russia last summer and heavy rains hurt harvests in Australia and Canada.

Long-range weather forecasts don't offer much hope to farmers in the Plains as AccuWeather.com predicted severe drought conditions will spread and worsen this spring.

Yet some downplayed the impact of the dry weather on the wheat markets, as CBOT May wheat traded on Thursday within Wednesday's range. The market seemed to be consolidating and recovering after dropping to a 10-week low last week as traders reduced risk in agricultural markets because of concerns about the global economy.

"Wheat's up today, but not doing anything really splashy," said Dale Durchholz, analyst at AgriVisor, an agricultural advisory firm in Illinois.

Hard red winter wheat for May delivery closed up 8 1/4 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $9.18 1/4 a bushel at the Kansas City Board of Trade. Hard red spring wheat for May delivery soared 15 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $9.46 1/2.