World Wheat Supplies
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-08-10/world-wheat-supplies
Drought and record high temperatures in Russia and locusts in Australia threaten global wheat production. How planting decisions made by farmers could affect world-wide grain prices and supplies.
Guests
William Mauldin
Moscow Deputy Bureau Chief for Dow Jones News Wire and the Wall Street Journal
Maximo Torero
Division Director of the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute
Chris Hurt
professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University
Alan Tracy
President of U.S. Wheat Associates
Jerry McReynolds
wheat producer
president, National Association of Wheat Growers
Comments
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The guests have been speaking about how little impact this will have, since we have enough supply. What about the cost of this supply? - Also, what percent of the total for other countries does the import equal (10% - 25%)?
World wheat prices respond to supply and demand signals. In this case, as news of Russian crop problems increased, so did prices. Russian wheat for export had been the lowest priced in the world and its price increased dramatically by almost by one-third in a few weeks even before the government ban was announced. If it were available today it would be priced about the same (not counting freight costs) as export supplies from the United States. Last year, Russia accounted for up to 15% of the total world wheat exports. To track global wheat export prices, U.S. Wheat Associates posts a Price Report every Friday on its Web site, www.uswheat.org.
At last, will the final part of the incomplete trilogy to the Frank Norris books the Octopus: A Story of California (1901) and the Pit: A Story of Chicago (1902) be written? Will we bring back the wheat penny?
I felt the interviewer and the guests all offhandedly dismissed the impact of climate change and industrialized farming techniques which damage the quality of soil and lessen its ability to produce crops. They approached the drought and high temperatures as a total anomaly. In taking this attitude they diminish the food security threats that face the world including the US. I suggest that anyone interested in these issues read Sharon Astyk's book A NATION OF FARMERS: DEFEATING THE FOOD CRISIS ON AMERICAN SOIL