NORTH AMERICA: Latest information points to a reduced wheat output in 2004 in the United States. The winter wheat area has declined while winter weather and crop conditions suggest that the percent of abandonment may be higher and yields lower than average in some major producing regions. The main 2004 crops in Canada have still to be sown but early indications point to a possible increase in output this year due to a further recovery in yields after moisture deficits in the past two years.