Word: wheats
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...allowed to abandon farmers to their fate. Indeed, while the Administration tries to get the Government out of agriculture, some farmers and their allies are taking the diametrically opposite approach. One bill proposed by Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa would increase farm price supports, by about 30% on wheat, and institute tough planting controls to hold down output...
...goods nobody wants. Standout example: the 768 million lbs. of cheese that the Government has bought and is holding in storage--more than 3 lbs. for every man, woman and child in the country. Other unsold mountains, including goods stockpiled by farmers with Government help: 1 billion bu. of wheat, 650 million bu. of corn. And as a crowning irony, the act has left many farmers, after 52 years of Government protection, little better off than their forebears were during the Great Depression that gave birth to the farm price-support system...
...have had in repaying it during the '80s, has crimped their ability to buy American-grown food. The remarkable strength of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies is perhaps the biggest cause of all; it forces overseas buyers to pay out more francs, pounds or yen to buy American wheat, corn or soybeans. The muscle-bound dollar is primarily an ironic consequence of gargantuan U.S. budget deficits, which keep American interest rates high and entice foreign investors to convert their currencies into dollars, bidding up the greenback's price, in order to pour money into American investments...
...Government to farmers, who sometimes have to restrict planting to qualify for them. They guarantee the farmer a minimum income per bushel, which he can collect from Uncle Sam if private buyers will not pay that much; they keep market prices near the support level. In the case of wheat, which gets more subsidy ($3.8 billion this year) than any other American crop, the basic U.S. support level is $3.30 per bu. and the market price in January averaged $3.37. Some grades have recently sold for 24% more than Argentine wheat...
Target Prices. These are set at levels that supposedly cover farm production costs but in fact are often determined by political negotiation. They are higher than the loan rates, in the case of 1985-crop wheat, $4.38 per bu. vs. $3.30. Growers who qualify, sometimes by agreeing to restrict production, sell their crops to private buyers. But if the market price falls below the target price, the Government makes up the difference with a cash "deficiency payment," up to a maximum representing the difference between the loan rate and the target price--$1.08 per bu. on 1985 wheat. The Administration...