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wheat at 41.9 million bushels, up 130 percent. The crops are rebounding after 2011 flooding. North Dakota's winter wheat production is forecast at a record 34.3 million bushels, up 147 percent.
• Winter wheat is a bigger crop in South Dakota, so wide fluctuations are not as likely as they are in North Dakota. USDA pegs South Dakota's winter wheat production at 55.9 million bushels, down 16 percent from last year, and the state's spring wheat crop at 37.5 million bushels, down 1 percent.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota's largest city is a step closer to banning texting while driving.
• The Sioux Falls Public Services Committee on Tuesday endorsed a proposed distracted driving ordinance that would ban texting, emailing, tweeting and Facebook use while driving. It now goes to the City Council, which could address it in the next few weeks, according to the Argus Leader newspaper.
• The push for a texting-while-driving ban in Sioux Falls was started earlier this year by a group called Citizens for Cell Phone Safety While Driving. The South Dakota Legislature has rejected proposed statewide bans in the last two years, but Sioux Falls' home rule charter allows it to pass measures not forbidden by state law.
• "We want to lead the charge," City Councilwoman Sue Aguilar told KELO-TV. "We feel that this is an important issue, and we are willing to take the lead on this issue."
• Some drivers, such as Tashia Ross, are skeptical about the usefulness of an ordinance.
• "People are probably going to do it anyway, so I don't think it's that big of a deal," she told KELO. "How's anybody going to know?"
• If an ordinance is approved it would make texting while driving a primary offense, meaning police officers could stop a car and issue a ticket if they spotted someone texting while behind the wheel, according to the Argus Leader. A ban would not prohibit talking on a cell phone while driving, and it would include exceptions for texting, such as if a person's safety was in danger.
• All drivers are prohibited from texting while driving in 39 states and Washington D.C., and five other states have bans in place for novice drivers, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, a traffic safety advocacy group.

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