US. / US.S.R. farm Picture More favored with agricultural resources than the U.S.S.R., the U.S. uses a lot less land and labor, blit substantially more capital to achieve higher farm output. The wide gap between Soviet and American agriculture has narrowed somewhat—but not closed. Latest estimates show that the dollar value of Soviet farm output has edged up to about four-fifths the U.S. total. Reasons for the lingering disparity are numerous but most often cited is the U.S. edge in agri > cultural resources. Land resources and land use are a case in point. Though the U.S.S.R. has 40-45 percent more cultivated land than the U.S., location and weather cancel out this advantage. Only about 1 percent of all arable land in the Soviet Union receives at least 28 inches of rainfall per year— compared with 60 percent of the U.S. And up to two-thirds of Soviet farmland lies in regions where tem peratures average 41*F and below. Thus, growing seasons and frost free periods are considerably shorter than in most of the U.S. Nearly all Soviet land is socialized and operated under a central state plan. Early this year there were 31,600 collective farms averaging about 15,500 acres of agricultural land and about half as many, but even larger state farms averaging just under 50,000 acres. In contrast, the U.S. has roughly 2.8 million farms —most of them family operated—averaging a little less than 400 acres. While total planted area in the U.S.S.R. is split about equally be tween state and collective farms, around 3 percent is made up of small —usually half an acre or less —“pri- vate” plots, primarily worked by col lective farm members and state farm workers in their spare time. As for labor, roughly a third of the Soviet Union's 135-million-mem ber labor force is employed in agri culture. From a U.S. labor force of about 84 million, only 3.3 million— around 4 percent—are counted as farmworkers. But the U.S. has far more nonfarm employees in agricul- While the U.S. uses a lot less land and labor, it has invested substan tially more capital to achieve higher output. And due to the differences in natural resources, technology, and farm organization, productivity of U.S. farmworkers far outstrips that of Soviet workers. In fact, a recent study determined that each farmworker in the U.S.S.R. feeds only 7 people while his Ameri can counterpart feeds close to 50. Seeking to correct this imbalance, the Soviet government has taken sev eral steps to raise the level of farm inputs and upgrade incentives for the rural labor force. Included are improved credit for farmers; higher prices for farm products; stepped-up supplies of fertilizers, pesticides, and machinery; additional building com plexes; and expanded irrigation and drainage projects. Charts on the pages to follow il lustrate how certain areas of the Soviet farm system are faring in re lation to the U.S. In several, 5-year averages were used to minimize the effects of weather on comparisons. Grains: The Soviets Riant Twice the Area, but Harvest a Fifth Less Than the U.S. Hus E 5! USSR • H-tl S USSR million acres 120- area wheat wheat Average 1967-71 f million bushels wheat wheat Average 1967-71 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 27,1973 SOVIET GRAIN AREA is about double that of the U.S. A key factor: the U.S. until recently has held land out of production in an effort to match supply and demand. The U.S.S.R., meantime, has pursued a grain area policy aimed at maximizing output. Grains grown in the two nations vary sharply by type. Food grains—wheat, rye, buckwheat, and rice —take up Iwo-thirds of total Soviet grain area, against only one-third in the U.S. Wheat dominates 55 percent of U.S.S.R. grain area, while corn occu pies 38 percent of all U.S. land in grains. Major Soviet grain areas lie further to the north than those in the U.S.—a fact that’s reflected in the types of wheat produced. Only about a quarter of all Soviet wheat area is planted to winter wheat —versus around three-quarters in the U.S But Soviet winter wheat area is still larger. Producing this crop in the northerly reaches of the Soviet Union is risky business since winterkill is a recur ring threat. Total grain production in the U.S. is estimated about a fifth larger than Soviet output. The actual gap is even wider, since the U.S.S.R. reports data in terms of “bunker weight”—the weight of grain as it comes from combines. “Bunker weight” isn’t a true measure of usable grain since it includes amounts of moisture and foreign matter that vary from year to year with harvest conditions. How can the U.S. produce so much more grain when planted area in the U.S.S.R. is so much larger? Mainly because high-yielding corn makes up more than half the U.S. crop while relatively low-yielding wheat—mostly spring wheat—is the dominant crop in the U.S.S.R. Compared with the U.S., the Soviet Union turns out over twice as much wheat (an average of 3.3 billion bushels versus 1.5 billion bushels during 1967-71), almost 15 times as much rye, and more than three times the barley. On the other hand, U.S. corn crops average 12 times the Soviet tally and U.S. rice three times as much. Oat production runs about the same in both nations. The U.S. clearly commands the lead in feed grains. These account for more than three-fourths the U.S. grain crop, versus just over a third of the Soviet crop. However, both countries feed sizable shares of their food grains to livestock. Variability in grain production during 1967-71 was about the same in both countries. During that period, the 1970 corn blight and reaction to it the following year were important factors in the amount of variation in the U.S. grain crop, Soviet grain yields—even in “bunker weight” terms —average out to less than half those of the U.S. Varying grain types, technology, climate con ditions, and economic systems are responsible. This overall comparison reflects the relative importance of high-yielding U.S. corn versus Soviet wheat. Most U.S.S.R. grains yield between two-thirds and three-fourths of U.S. crops. However, Soviet winter wheat yields come close to those in the U.S., while Soviet corn yields are only about half as high. *ln teims of bunker weight HUS USSR• bushels per acre YIELDS wheat wheat (spring) Average 1967-71 In terms of bunker weight 25
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