SHELBY, N.C. — The conflict in Eastern Europe has been impacting gas prices, but it's also going to affect the costs of wheat products too. 

What You Need To Know

• According to the Nasdaq, wheat prices have gone up about 30% in the last month 

• This is because Ukraine and Russia make up a big portion of the world’s wheat supply 

• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the two countries produce about 26% of the world’s wheat exports 

ASR Grain Company Co-owner Steve Greene says he first hopped on a tractor when he was 8-years-old. Farming runs in his blood, and his relatives have been running the farm for seven generations.

“I like being able to put a seed in the ground and watch God do what he does to bring it up,” Greene said. “There is no better way.”

Once that seed grows and is harvested, they store the wheat in large elevators. Greene says they have about 150,000 bushels of wheat stored in their facility right now. Wheat is a big part of their business, and when prices are impacted, so is their bottom line.

“It’s very hard to put a crop in with unstable input prices,” Greene said.

Greene’s cousin, Andrew White, is the other co-owner of ASR Grain Company. He actively follows the stock market, and he says even though wheat prices are up, it doesn’t mean they make more money.

“We already had contracts in place at a lower price, so we won’t be able to take advantage of these higher prices on some, but some we will,” White said.

He says customers will eventually feel the ripple effect in stores. The price of bread crackers and anything with wheat could go up.

“It usually takes several months until it tapers down to the end product,” Greene said.

The co-owners say the big question remains if they should plant more wheat during the season this fall, but they say that's hard to determine.

“It’s hard to plan ahead,” Greene said. “It’s so volatile, and it is hard to book a crop or plan on what your inputs are going to be for the crop.” 

The co-owners say fertilizer prices have gone up 200% in the last year. They use a lot of fertilizer in their wheat crops so that could also play a factor in how much they plant.