Wheat prices are rising in July by the biggest amount in more than a half century as severe drought conditions in Russia and other former Soviet republics destroyed grain crops.

If the gains continue, U.S. shoppers could see a bump up in prices of cereals, breads, pasta and other products made with wheat. American wheat farmers, meanwhile, are going to get a boost in income, says Scott Irwin, agriculture professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Wheat prices have risen $1.81 a bushel, or nearly 38 percent, this month and are at their highest level since September 2008. It's the biggest gain since at least 1959, according to the Chicago Board of Trade.