Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat fell, capping the biggest two- day loss since 2003, on speculation that farmers will increase planting to take advantage of prices that have doubled to a record in the past year.

U.S. growers planted 3.6 percent more acres with winter wheat from September through November, the government said last month. Sowing of spring wheat also may increase, analysts said. Global farmers planted 4 percent more winter wheat, the International Grains Council said in December.

``There's been a lot of wheat planted around the world'' after prices surged, said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, a partner at Summit Commodity Brokerage in Des Moines, Iowa. ``Talk about an economic incentive to plant something.''

Wheat futures for March delivery dropped 41 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $10.07 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract reached a record $11.53 yesterday before closing down 45 cents, the first decline this month. Wheat fell 7.9 percent in the past two days, the biggest decline since Nov. 19, 2003.

Prices have soared as adverse weather hurt crops globally, and importers increased purchases on concern farmers would fail to produce enough, accelerating food-price inflation.

On the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, wheat for May delivery fell the exchange limit of 60 cents, or 4 percent, to $14.245 a bushel. The price rose 33 percent in January and almost tripled in the past year, partly because of a shortage of high-protein spring wheat.

Boosted Trading Limits

The exchanges in Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas City doubled daily trading limits for wheat to 60 cents to create more incentives for holders of contracts to sell after futures surged by the maximum every day last week.

U.S. growers of soft red-winter wheat, grown mostly in the eastern Great Plains from Missouri to Ohio and used to make cookies and cakes, seeded 21 percent more of the grain in the autumn. Hard red-winter varieties, grown mostly in the southern Plains from Nebraska to Texas and used to make bread, were planted on 1 percent fewer acres.

Increased seeding may help boost global supplies expected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fall to 109.7 million metric tons in the year ending May 31, a 12 percent drop from the prior year. U.S. stockpiles may fall to 272 million bushels, or 7.4 million metric tons, the lowest since 1948, USDA data show.

Winter varieties compose about 70 percent of all wheat grown in the U.S., the largest global exporter of the grain followed by Canada, Russia and Argentina, USDA data show.

Egypt, the world's second-biggest wheat importer, canceled a tender for 80,000 tons of the grain, saying the price was too high. Egypt imported 7 million tons of wheat in the most recent marketing year, half its annual consumption of the grain, according to U.S. and Egyptian government statistics. Brazil is the largest importer.

Wheat was the fourth-biggest U.S. crop in 2006, valued at $7.7 billion, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in Chicago at Tdreibus@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 12, 2008 15:21 EST