14—lincatUir Farming. Saturday. January 12.1974
Will THE THUS MEET THE CHIU?
All across the country the season s gram harvest ts moving to market A
major bottleneck however, is the critical shortage at country gram
elevators of rail cars to move the gram
When cars aren t available, artificial scarcities of grain result which can
dnve prices up That can mean higher pnces for many items like bakery
products, cereal, and even meat and poultry
To help ease this problem, the U S Department of Agnculture in late
September started a momtonng system to pinpoint areas of the country
that are having problems getting rail cars
Operators of country gram elevators received questionnaires from
USDA s AgncutturaJ Marketing Service asking them to list the amount of
grain awaiting shipment, gram on hand m the elevator —and on the
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ground, if any; and anticipated receipts and shipments within the next two
weeks. Reports by the warehousemen are voluntary and are submitted *
weekly only when there's a car shortage.
USDA then feeds the information into a computer that produces geo
graphic lists. They spell out just what areas need more cars and tells how n
severe the shortages are.
The lists are then passed on for further action to agencies that have
some control over the situation, such as the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, the U S. Department of Transportation, and the Association of
American Railroads.
Hopefully, this attempt at national coordination will mean steadier
supplies of grain to feeders and processors
After experiencing trouble get
ting rail cars a country elevator
operator seals his weekly ques
tionnaire (1073K1576-27) be
fore mailing it to the U S De
partment of Agriculture in
Washington D C There it and
scores of others from across
the country is opened
(1073K1607-5) and compu
ter-processed into lists
(1073K1607-27) that pinpoint
general areas of the country
where cars are scarce Hope
fully this information can help
get the rail cars rolling
(1073K1569-19) toward where
they re most needed when
they re most needed
Rail Car
Monitoring
Seeks an
Answer
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