In early April, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply approved the new minimum prices of all wheat types and wheat seeds for the 2018/19 season. The reference price of bread-type wheat was set at BRL 36.17 (USD 10) per 60 kg bag, down nearly 3 percent from BRL 37.26 (USD 10.34) last year in the South Region. The same decline rate was applied to all other types of wheat and regions of the country. Prices of wheat seeds went from BRL 1.48 (USD 0.41) per kg to BRL 1.44 (USD 0.4). Prices will be effective from 1 July to 30 June 2019. New prices were also set for coffee and orange. The mechanism of the minimum prices aims to support producers. Planting of the new wheat crop started in April in some areas of the south, which concentrates most of the wheat planted at national level, and official forecasts point to a year-on-year 4 percent increase in plantings.