Why is supply inelastic in the short run?

equilibreamAnswer

Wheat grows according to harvest cycles. So in the short run, you only have as much wheat as was planted and harvested for a given year.

If you forecast that you are going to need more wheat over, say, the next 5 years, you can plan to devote more land to growing wheat, buy more fertilizer, invest in more labor hours, etc. But once the wheat is in the ground and growing for a particular year, there is only a limited amount you can do to improve supply for that particular year.