Embargo poses problems
(Continued from Page Al)
invasion of Afghanistan,”
Grant said.
“I am convinced that
Russia can be a continuing
and growing market for U.S.
farm commodities, if en
couraged,” the farm leader
said. “Export embargoes or
moratoriums directed
against one nation confuse
and antagonize all trading
partners and should be
avoided unless national
security is clearly involved.
As alternatives to a farm
commodity boycott against
Russia, Grant said that the
U.S. should immediately
rebuild a properly balanced,
superior defense system;
control the export of high
technology and expertise to
Communist countries;
reassemble our largely
dismantled intelligence
network; reinstate the
selective service
registration system; build
up military bases with
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emphasis on the Persian
Gulf area, and reject the Salt
II treaty.
The military intervention
in Afghanistan has triggered
a new phase in world affairs,
said PennAg Industries.
At least some students of
international politics feel
that" the Soviets, with then
own oil reserves being
depleted coupled with the
rapid escalation of prices
charged by OPEC, have now
reached the point where
direct intervention seems to
be their only recourse to
assure them of a .continued
supply of petroleum.
The response to this by the
Umted States and others will
be to develop ways to keep
the bear caged.
In short, the chill factor
will rise substantially.
It is interesting to note
that, campaign promises
noth withstanding, President
Jimmy Carter followed
other executives before him
of both political parties in
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response to an international
crisis by imposing an em
bargo on gram and other
food as the first action.
Thus no matter how much
rhetoric is voiced over “food
as aid in promoting peace
and brotherhood”, it is a
weapon and will be used as
such.
There is some evidence
that the President may not
have been completely aware
of the full repercussions of
his precipitous action - but
he is now. Markets have shut
down and little, if any, trade
is occurring. Confusion is
king.
Trade observers are not m
complete agreement about
the ultimate effect on
markets but they do more or
less agree that the degree of
impact will be tempered by
what programs and relief
ideas government planners
can concoct within the next
few days.
Which brings us to what
specific programs might be
imposed. As of this writing,
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the only tangible items
mentioned by the President
were diversions to gasohol
and perhaps some additional
P. L. 480 programs.
While the five million tons
of corn mentioned for
gasohol could be set aside,
the possibility of an im
mediate production of 500
million gallons is remote,
according to a majority of
those we’ve talked with.
Another possibility is having
CCC step back into the
picture with a government
owned inventory.
Charles Wismer, Jr.,
Master of the Pennsylvania
State Grange criticized the
embargo saymg it is the
farmer who is bearing most
of the burden once again.
“Shouldn’t all trade to the
USSR be cancelled?” he
asked.
“Why does the American
Farmer have to take the
beating of embargos?”
“This is the third embargo
we have seen m recent
years,” he said, “and m each
of the other two instances,
prices have gone down. ’ ’
Wismer said that while he
was concerned about what
was happening in
Afghanistan, and remains
loyal to the U.S. govern
ment, many questions
remain unanswered.
He asked what happens to
all U.S. gram that is going in
storage now, and whether it
would be sold to another
country which, in turn, could
sell it to the Russians.
He also asked what it
would do to beef cattle
prices.
“I pity the poor farmer
who is storing gram. As it is
our 1980 plantmg costs are
skyrocketing,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Far
mers Union set its position in
a special committee session
held this week in
Harrisburg.
The committee believes
that while the embargo of 17
million metric.tons of gram
appears to have been a
correct action given the
grave circumstances of
Soviet adventurism, this Na
tion’s farmers must be pro
tected from immediate and
future price drop.
Gram prices, as a per
centage of parity, have been
so low for so long, that any
financial loss to the
American farmer is in
tolerable. It would be
especially insulting to have
government guarantees
against loss for the world’s
handful of huge gram
companies, while America’s
farmers are made to suffer
the brunt of financial loss.
The Farmers Union
committee also warned that
the President’s action should
be made to work at all cost.
The government of the U.S.
must assure that effective
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roadblocks exist to keep
gram from other parts of the
world from reaching Soviet
harbors
“Agricultural interests
should avoid panic or rash
decisions in light of the
Presidential an
nouncement,” warned Ed
Wheeler, President of the
Fertilizer Institute in
Washington, D.C.
“Two weeks ago, none of
us foresaw such a turn of
events, and two weeks hence
the situation may well
change around again.
“Meanwhile, all of us in
the entire farm chain would
do well to proceed with
caution and avoid rash
action until the foreign
relations panorama further
unfolds,” he added.
The fertilizer association
executive noted that U.S.
feed grain farmers would be
hardest hit because the
USSR consistently con
tracts, as is currently the
case, for twice as much com
as wheat.
“While wheat fanners are
very dependent upon total
exports, the action against
the Soviets will bean most
heavily on the corn
movement,” he said.
Wheeler pointed out that
both President Carter and
Secretary of Agriculture Bob
Bergland have at once
assured the farmers of
prompt action to protect
them from onerous financial
burdens arising out of the
embargoes.
He added, “It is clear,
however, that farmers will
in all likelihood plant all-out
unless, to be eligible for
relief, they must reduce
their acreage. Were low
grain prices to be the rule
this spring, one would expect
ondale announces
action to offset
gram
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Vice President Walter F.
Mondale Friday announced
the Commodity Credit
Corporation is prepared to
assume the contractual
obhgatinos for wheat, com
and soybeans previously
committed for shipment to
the Soviet Union. The CCC
will offer to assume these
contracts at the contract
price minus any costs that
have not already been paid.
“Our purpose is to protect
against losses, not to
guarantee profits,” the Vice
President said.
This action is one of
several being taken to
stabilize farm product prices
and to insure that the burden
of the suspension on
agricultural deliveries to the
Soviet Umon will not fall
unfairly on farmers, he said.
It will assure that the
quantities of gram that
would have been shipped to
the Soviet Union will be
isolated from the market
and that America's farmers
will be m the same position
as if the sales to the Soviet
Umon had gone forward.
“This action is necessary
to avoid significant
disruptions to the cash and
futures markets, especially
for corn and wheat, with
consequent damage to the
interests of farmers,” the
Vice President said.
None of the gram so
purchased, the Vice
the fanners to surmount this
dilemma by more produc
tion.”
President Carter’s embargo
on gram shipments to the
Soviet Union has already
had a serious impact on
farmers and agribusiness in
Pennsylvania, according to
Jay Wolgemuth, president of
PennAg Industries
Association.
And for the foreseeable
future, Wolgemuth added,
farmers and grain dealers
will continue to feel the
reverberations of the em
bargo, announced by the
President Friday night
during his speech about the
Russian invasion of
Afghanistan.
During the meeting, the
board adopted a motion to
support the National Grain
and Feed Dealers’
Association m its attempt to
work with the White House
on minimizing the impact of
the embargo on small grain
traders.
Geoge Biankley, a
Philadelphia gram dealer,
observed during the meeting
that the President had an
nounced intentions to soften
the effects of the embargo on
grain farmers and ex
porters, but that little
thought had apparently been
given to the impact the move
have on the rest of the
agricultural community.
Biankley said he expected
to see a drop in the price of
com from 25- to 50 cents a
bushel.
While cheaper gram might
at first glance seem
something of a boon for
Pennsylvania’s livestock
and poultry farmers,
Biankley observed that the
market prices for hogs and
eggs had already dropped
precipitiously since trading
began Monday morning.
embargo
President said, will be resold
mto the market until it can
be done without adversely
affecting market prices.
As already announced, the
Department intends to use
amounts of wheat equivalent
to the quantity that would
have gone to the Soviet
Union for shipments to
needy nations under the P.L.
480 program and for the
Food Security Reserve that
we have asked Congress to
authorize. With respect to
com, our goal is to en
courage farmers to place
additional quantities mto the
farmer-owned reserve.
Bucks repeats
vegetable title
HARRISBURG - The
Bucks County Vegetable
Growers’ Association
repeated as winners of the
best county vegetable
exhibit at the tilth Farm
Show.
This marks the 15th
straight year that the Bucks
County group has captured
the title.
The best farmers’ display
was exhibited by Solly
Brothers of Ivyland, Bucks
County.
Joseph Digirolamo of
Bensalem, Bucks County,
exhibited the best growers’
collection.