Australian farmer predicts bright future for wheat

Twenty-four years ago, an Australian, Ron Greentree, was mowing lawns for a living.

This year, Greentree will plant wheat on an area the size of Hong Kong, and good rains combined with high prices could bring him a windfall of 100 million Australian dollars.

Greentree, 48, the biggest individual wheat grower in Australia, survived two consecutive years of serious drought to nearly double his amount of land this year. He is now expecting his biggest crop ever.

He is at the front of a global drive to plant more wheat, corn, soy and rice to take advantage of prices that have risen steeply for a year and a half.

This year, he has spent 100 million Australian dollars, or $92.8 million, to buy 45,000 hectares, or 111,000 acres, of land.

He will plant 85,000 hectares of wheat this year, making him the biggest contributor to Australia's expected record crop of 27 million tons.

Barring another drought, his bet will have a big payoff. Drought has hit Australian crops badly in three of the past six years.