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...result, wheat stockpiles are actually expected to grow this year. For every other commodity, however, PIK appears to be succeeding in drawing down the enormous surpluses. The USDA predicts that the unsold carryover of feed grains, mostly corn, may dwindle from 3.4 billion bu. to 2 billion bu. by the end of the year, a reduction of about 40%. Rice stocks are expected to be cut by almost half, from 68.2 million cwt. (hundredweight) to 36.3 million cwt. "Without PIK, we would have had a market glut like we've never seen," says Agricultural Economist Barry Flinchbaugh of Kansas...
...eligible land), 39.5 million acres of corn and sorghum (39%), 1.7 million acres of rice (43%), 6.8 million acres of cotton (44%) and 2.3 million acres of barley and oats (12%). As a result, surpluses will begin to shrink. This year's corn crop, predicts the USDA, will be only 5.6 billion bu., far below last year's record 8.4 billion and low enough to draw down stocks a year from now to 1.9 billion...
Parts of the farm economy are doing well. Pig producers are thriving: demand is strong because herd size was cut last year and feed is cheap because of the grain glut. Dairy farmers stay fat at Government expense. The USDA will buy dairy products for 13.10 per Ib. no matter how low the market price drops. Such purchases this year will amount to $2 billion, or about $10,000 for every U.S. dairy farmer. The result is heaps of cheese and butter, paid for by taxpayers, 270 million lbs. of which the Government will give away this year...
Researchers must, however, report to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on what animals were used in the course of a year, and whether any animals were subjected to pain or distress. In 1980, the USDA reports, out of 1.6 million animals used in experimentation, more than 120,000 experienced pain or distress...
...retrospect, chastened USDA officials feel that they should have sold their proposals more carefully within the Administration before going public. Says Mary Jarratt, USDA Assistant Secretary for Food and Consumer Services: "There was no way for the regulations not to be controversial. We are talking about a sensitive group, little children." With nearly one-third of the school lunch budget already slashed by Congress, those officials will have ample opportunity to devise a more appropriate, nutritional and workable plan...