In 1974, 3/4th of US wheat production was exported. In Clay county alone exported a third of it's production. But, does it hurt the consumer by raising bread prices by having less wheat available.
In 1974, 3/4th of US wheat production was exported. In Clay county alone exported a third of it's production. But, does it hurt the consumer by raising bread prices by having less wheat available.
OZZIE DARLING BUCK: As I look upon this later, this sale now, that we're talking about, I look upon that as a good omen. I think this is what we need. And it's not only good for the farmers. But it's good for the consumer, even though he may not look at it that way right now. Because it's going to help us in our balance of trade. If we don't sell something, we aren't going to be able to import the oil and the things that we need.
And it's in our agricultural capacity, where we have an advantage over a greater share of the world. Because we have the land, we have the know-how, we have the equipment, we have the farmers who are able to do it. And I think that's an ace in a hole that we have.
DENNIS HAMILTON: What percentage of our total wheat crop do we export? And is that the way that our farmers make money?
OZZIE DARLING BUCK: Yes. Our wheat crop, through a number of years, we were up to 50% export. And we thought that was really good when we reached that. However, in 1974, 3/4 of the total wheat production in this country was exported. And if we want to bring that a little closer to home in Clay County, we have grown a lot of wheat in the more recent years, much more than we did a few years back.
In fact, in '73, we harvested 160,000 acres of wheat, right in Clay County alone. And if we would take the basis of our 75% export nationwide, and apply that to the county, that means that we exported the wheat grown on 120,000 acres of our land within the county, which is a 1/3 of our total crop acres about.
DENNIS HAMILTON: It seems to me that the farmer is always the fall guy in this system. If he produces a good crop and some is exported, bread prices might rise a few cents. And he gets blamed. Now, if a crop fails, the bread prices are going to rise because there isn't going to be enough wheat to keep the prices at a certain level.
And again, it's his fault. Is this the farmers catch-22?
OZZIE DARLING BUCK: Well, I mean, if we really get down to the basis of analyzing how much wheat is there actually in a loaf of bread, and there's less than a pound of wheat in a 1 pound loaf of bread, there's less than a pound of wheat. So if wheat is $3 a bushel at 60 pounds to a bushel, that means there's still only a nickel's worth of wheat in that pound loaf of bread.
So if we go up $1 or $2, you see, in the actual farmer's share of that, it isn't very much.
DENNIS HAMILTON: Thank you very much, Ozzie Darling Buck, Clay County extension agent. I'm Dennis Hamilton.
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