Last updated: 18 August 2026. The price table and the written analysis both cover AHDB figures for the week ending 14 August. The page is refreshed when AHDB’s weekly report lands.
Tim’s take:
The phone calls this week all have the same shape: is it worth selling anything off the combine at these numbers, or does the store earn its keep? November feed wheat gave up £10.50 after its July high, then clawed £6.50 of it back over the last two weeks to close at £203.00. A market doing that is a market that has not made its mind up. What follows is where the price actually stands and what is pushing it about.
What is the UK wheat price now?
UK feed wheat futures for November 2026 closed at £203.00 a tonne on Friday 14 August 2026, up £3.50 on the week and back above the £200 mark, according to AHDB’s arable market report of 17 August. Delivered feed wheat was quoted at £212.00 a tonne into North Humberside for September movement and £213.00 a tonne into Yorkshire for October, with bread wheat into the North West at £228.00 for November.
UK wheat prices — week ending 14 August 2026
The futures figure is the November 2026 contract settlement; delivered quotes are for the region and movement month shown. This table is refreshed when AHDB’s weekly arable market report lands. Last updated 18 August 2026.
| Series | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Feed wheat futures, Nov 2026 | £203.00/t | up £3.50 on the week |
| Bread wheat delivered, North West | £228.00/t | November movement |
| Bread wheat delivered, North West | £225.50/t | September movement |
| Delivered feed wheat, Yorkshire | £213.00/t | October movement |
| Delivered feed wheat, North Humberside | £212.00/t | September movement |
| Nov 2026 contract high | £207.00/t | set late July |
Source: AHDB arable market report, 17 August 2026. Delivered quotes are the freshest AHDB reported for the week ending 14 August.
The £203.00 close is the second week of gains in a row and the first Friday finish back above £200 since July’s run. The recovery came in steps: up £3.00 in the week ending 7 August, then £3.50 more. The next level that matters is £207.00, the contract high set on 22 July, and AHDB’s charting note expects prices to meet some resistance there.
Three prices, one market
Wheat gets quoted three ways in this country, and mixing them up costs real money in a negotiation. The futures price is the headline number, published daily on AHDB’s futures prices page: it is the previous session’s settlement for a standard feed wheat contract, and it is what most market commentary means by “the wheat price”.
The delivered price is what a merchant will pay for grain arriving at a mill, port or feed compounder in a named region and month. It sits above or below futures depending on haulage, local demand and when you can move the load. This week’s board ran from £212.00 for feed wheat into North Humberside in September, through £213.00 into Yorkshire in October, to £228.00 for bread wheat into the North West in November: same market, different loads.
The third number is the one closest to what actually lands in your bank account: the ex-farm price from AHDB’s corn returns, a weekly survey of what farmers were genuinely paid, published each Monday and covering trades from the preceding Friday to Thursday. It is the longest-running domestic price series for cereals, with records back to 1990. AHDB is plain that it exists as a historical record of what was paid rather than a base for contract prices, which is worth remembering when a buyer waves it at you.
Feed wheat against milling wheat
The futures contract is a feed wheat contract, so everything above is a feed value. Milling wheat is a different sale: the load has to meet a flour specification on protein and grain quality, and when it does, it earns a premium over feed. How big that premium is depends on the season. A year that fills sheds with poor-spec wheat makes the good samples scarce and the premium widens; a clean quality year does the opposite. This week the premium is visible in the delivered quotes: bread wheat into the North West for November stood £27.00 a tonne over the November futures price, where the same delivery was £37.00 over in mid-July. With 85% of the wheat area cut and quality generally good so far, a narrowing premium is what you would expect: more of the crop is making the grade.
What is moving the price in 2026
Harvest, first. After one of the fastest starts in years, AHDB’s latest progress figures, cited in its 17 August market report, have 85% of the wheat area cut, with spring barley just past half done. Our harvest 2026 dates guide tracks the running order in detail. A fast harvest puts grain in front of buyers early, and early grain is sold grain: plenty of it moves straight off the combine because the drying maths or the cash flow says it must.
Yield is the sting in it. Average wheat yields for the farmers in AHDB’s survey are running 13% below the five-year average, and the report is blunt that yields have continued to disappoint as cutting has moved north, varying considerably from farm to farm even where quality holds. Where the final national number lands is tracked in our harvest 2026 yields guide.
In the first week of August the price fell through news that should have lifted it, with profit-taking and harvest selling drowning out a cut EU crop forecast. The last two weeks have been the mirror image: the market is paying attention to supply again. Global grain prices rose for a second week running, Chicago wheat gained 4.8% on the week, and on Wednesday the USDA cut its US maize yield forecast harder than traders expected, to 11.35 tonnes per hectare, and trimmed stocks with it.
Behind it all sits the Black Sea. Russian grain exports were down 20% on the year in July after strikes suspended operations at Novorossiysk, the country’s biggest wheat-exporting port, and Ukraine’s shipments were running 10% down in the first half of August with the port at Izmail damaged. Both countries would normally be shipping hard in these months. That risk does not resolve on any schedule a UK farm can plan around.
Sell off the combine or store it?
There is no clean answer this year, and anyone offering one is selling something. The case for moving grain now: the rally has handed back a £203.00 selling opportunity that was not there a fortnight ago, and the market showed in early August how fast it can shed £10. The case for the store: the Black Sea premium is no longer hypothetical, the EU numbers are genuinely tight, and yields 13% below the five-year average mean there is less of yours to sell, which makes each tonne’s timing matter more. What decides it on most farms is not the market view at all but drying cost, store condition and when the money is needed. Our UK arable farming guide covers the storage and moisture arithmetic that should sit under the decision.
Where to check the price each week
Futures settle daily on AHDB’s futures page. The corn returns ex-farm survey lands each Monday. The weekly arable market report, published on the AHDB news pages, pulls the futures, delivered and global picture together and is the single most useful ten minutes of market reading available to a UK grower. For next season’s planning, our winter wheat drilling guide covers dates and seed rates once the marketing year turns.
Frequently asked questions
How much is wheat per tonne in the UK?
UK feed wheat futures for November 2026 closed at £203.00 a tonne on 14 August 2026, up £3.50 on the week. Delivered feed wheat was quoted at £212.00 a tonne into North Humberside for September and £213.00 a tonne into Yorkshire for October.
Why did UK wheat prices fall in early August 2026?
Traders took profits after the November contract set a contract high of £207.00 a tonne in late July, and a fast early harvest added selling pressure. The fall did not last: by 14 August the contract had climbed back to £203.00 a tonne as Black Sea disruption cut Russian and Ukrainian exports.
What is the difference between feed wheat and milling wheat?
Feed wheat goes into animal rations and is what the UK futures contract trades. Milling wheat must meet a flour specification on protein and grain quality, and earns a premium over feed values when the sample makes the grade. The premium widens or narrows with the quality of each season’s crop.
What is the UK wheat yield in 2026?
With 85% of the wheat area cut, average yields for farmers in AHDB’s harvest survey are running 13% below the five-year average, though quality has generally been good. Final figures will settle once harvest completes in the north and west.
