US Gov't out of wheat. Completely.

[Large Sarge]

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
US Gov't out of wheat. Completely. Government Holdings of Wheat are at Zero
By Benjamin Gisin
IDAHO FALLS, ID - Quietly, the last of the U.S. government's wheat reserves, held in the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, were sold in late May o­nto the domestic market for cash. The cash was put in a trust for food aid. With no other government wheat holdings, U.S. government wheat stocks are now totally exhausted.
The following recent statements by Rebecca Bratter, director of policy for U.S. Wheat Associates, provides insights:

"While U.S. wheat industry strongly supports the administration's goal of maintaining current food aid programs to prevent rampant hunger worldwide, there is concern regarding the impact of selling reserve wheat o­n the domestic market and over the lack of commitment from the administration to replenish the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust. U.S. Wheat Associates has shared these concerns with high officials at USDA and o­n the President's staff and has asked about the Administration's intent regarding replenishment of the=2 0Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust.  Staff from the office of the President's Special Agricultural Assistant noted that while there is no commitment at this time, the administration intends to replenish the Trust o­nce the supply and price scenario stabilizes." (Note: U.S. Wheat Associates works in 90 countries promoting U.S. wheat exports.)

The Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust was established in 1980 by an act of Congress and is authorized to hold up to 4 million metric tons of wheat, corn, sorghum and rice as a reserve for global food crises. The wheat is purchased and managed by the Commodity Credit Corporation and included in the total amount of wheat owned and held by the U.S. government. Holdings by the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust for corn, sorghum and rice are also zero.

For the decade of the '80s, government wheat holdings (including those in the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust) averaged 358 million bushels. For the decade of the '90s, government wheat holdings averaged 133 million bushels. Since 2000, government wheat holdings dropped steadily until recently when the last of the government-owned wheat was sold.

With no formal plan for wheat stocks by the U.S. government, wheat stocks have defaulted to the arena of the private free-market sector. Unfortunately, the private sector has no plans for any kind of minimum wheat stocks that would protect from a price and/or availability standpoint the American public.

Private whe at stocks are divided into two major categories — o­n-farm wheat stocks owned by farmers and off-farm wheat stocks owned by warehouses and grain companies. These two together held 305.6 million bushels of wheat as of June 1 — or roughly 1 bushel per person living in the United States — the lowest level in 60 years.

Of these stocks, o­n-farm wheat stocks are at 25.6 million bushels, the lowest level of o­n-farm wheat stocks since the USDA started keeping tabs back in 1934. So as you are driving in rural America before wheat harvest, the farmer's bins have never been so empty.

The USDA, projects America to have a bumper wheat crop in 2008 — producing 2.43 billion bushels and consuming and exporting 2.30 billion bushels. This leaves a meager 133 million bushels (5.5 percent of production) as a margin for error. Globally, the USDA projects wheat production to be 24.36 billion bushels, consumption to be 23.74 billion bushels for a relatively smaller margin of 622 million bushels or 2.6 percent of production.

The recent wheat crises in America was sparked by the nation exporting more wheat than it produced. This means the true 2008 wheat margin for Americans is really the global margin of 2.6 percent. Any decline from global projections could precipitate greater wheat exports from America and further draw down already low domestic and global wheat stocks.

Food security is emerging as a global focal point. With the U.S. government and the pri vate sector lacking visions for stocks, food security is poised to grow as a grass-roots issue around the nation.
About Benjamin Gisin
Gisin has visited hundreds of farms in his agricultural banking, farm consulting and publishing careers. Today he writes and lectures extensively o­n the promise of local food systems, agricultural sustainability and food security.

[LordLindsey]

We are seeing each brick in this house of cards being laid into place.  Everyone has the feeling that by September things are going to be very, very bad...and just imagine if there is a food crisis what will happen.  We are living in a world that should not be like this, unless those behind-the-scenes pulling the strings are genuine psycho/sociopaths, and there is no one, after reflection of the truth, that will dispute this--not even young adults.

A man or woman picked randomly off of the street WOULD *not could* do a better job than what is being done now, because what is happening now is by design; it is as simple as that.

LINDSEY

[Yammitor]

Not to worry. These little piggys will tie you over until September then its box cars.  :?

U.S. pork supply balloons as swine flu curbs demand
Wed Jul 22, 2009 4:58pm
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Heal ... 22?sp=true

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. pork supplies held in storage ballooned to the highest level ever for the month of June as consumers turned to other meats amid the spread in swine flu, the government and analysts said on Wednesday.

The analysts said data from the U.S. Agriculture Department should pressure Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures when pit trading in Chicago reopens on Thursday morning.

USDA data showed that total pork stocks in June of 578.8 million lbs were down one percent from May but were up nine percent from a year ago, and a record high at end-June.

"We've got the largest (total pork stocks) number on record for this particular month's (June) report," said livestock analyst Rich Nelson of brokerage Allendale Inc.

[abduLMaria]

in a community garden i belong to, my entire crop of wheat (all 3 feet by 3 feet of it) was stolen, ripped out of the ground, gone.

it seemed like a very odd piece of vandalism.  a lot of my neighbors in the garden have "better stuff to steal".

one of the things that ran across my mind was, "i wonder if Monsanto has a squad that destroys organic wheat crops".

whoever stole it didn't really steal my food - they stole my seed crop for next year.

when i go to replace it, if i can't find any wheatseed, i'll really start wondering.

i think it is VERY unusual for the US gov. to be out of wheat.  but it's not something i follow closely.