Word: grained
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...least partially right. The 1972 sales to the Russians did contribute substantially to an abrupt rise in domestic food prices, some 20% in one year. American taxpayers, moreover, subsidized the sales, which were secretly negotiated at below world market prices, and millions of farmers innocently sold their grain cheaply before the deals were publicized and grain prices soared. These prices are set in the nation's grain markets, which can fluctuate wildly on the basis of psychological factors, including all manner of rumors and speculations. The many middlemen between the farm producer and the food consumer grasp flimsy excuses...
Whatever price increases may be attributed to the Soviet deal, they will not come from any grain shortage in the U.S. On the contrary, if much of the American farm surplus were not exported, it would have to be stockpiled, probably at Government expense. The wheat harvest, for example, is coming in at a record level, and the Agriculture Department estimates that less than half of it will be required for domestic consumption. Thus out of an expected crop of some 2.2 billion bushels, only 800 million is needed at home. But as Secretary Butz repeatedly demonstrates by dramatically peeling...
...psychological impact of large Soviet grain purchases cannot be ignored. Even before this Soviet sale was foreseen, U.S. food prices had been rising at a rate that, if sustained throughout the year, would be a highly inflationary 22.8%. Most grain market experts expected this trend to be reversed when this year's harvests are completed, since record crops for both corn and wheat were forecast...
Then three things happened: 1) the Russians began making deals with private American grain exporters, signing contracts for the purchase of 228 million bu. of feed grains (mostly corn), 154 million bu. of wheat and 46 million bu. of barley; 2) one of the driest months of July in 30 years afflicted the corn crop in Iowa, which normally produces one-fifth of the U.S. total, thus casting doubt on the previous forecasts; 3) the Agriculture Department's shaky estimates of Soviet grain production were revised downward from 210 million to 185 million tons because of continued droughts...
Price Jumps. Those events fed speculation in marketing centers that the grain prices would rise rather than fall, and such prophecies can be self-fulfilling. Rumors spread that the Soviet Union may well want to buy as much as 10 million more tons of grain beyond the 10 million already ordered. That would exceed the amount it bought in 1972. Remembering the 1972 price hikes, market operators anticipated similar results this fall. Partly because of speculators seeking quick profits, the price of grain for later delivery began climbing. In the past month the price of Kansas City wheat jumped from...