GardenBanter.co.uk - global agriculture production

"Dean Hoffman" wrote in message
...
On 11/15/02 6:26 AM, in article
, "Edward Glamkowski"
wrote:

Hi all :-)

I'm not an agriculturist so this may seem like a basic question, but I'm
wondering where to find global production figures for major crops
(wheat,
corn,
barley, etc.) and the price per unit volume for each one. I'd prefer
data
that
is as recent as possible.

Thanks!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture might have information on total
production. The USDA is online and has all kinds of information on its
site. You might ask Mr. Google and put USDA and world crop production in
the search request.
Prices vary considerably. Projected production figures, demand
forecasts,
weather forecasts, and currency exchange rates are some things that
influence price. There is a local cash price and futures prices for
several
months ahead of time. The futures prices in the U.S. are determined at
the
Chicago Board of Trade. It's similar to the stock market with buyers and
sellers. A lot of people stand around yelling and making odd signals at
each other.
Cash prices per bushel at Lincoln, NE on Thursday, November 14:
#2 wheat $4.36-4.38 #2 corn $2.35-2.38 #2 soybeans $5.40 #2 milo
$2.39-2.46 Barley isn't grown in this part of the country so no price for
it. Oats is really rare here and there was no bid posted.
The highest price for corn I remember was around $5.00/bushel. A friend
of mine had only one truckload left to sell then. The price was about
$1.50
a couple of years ago.

On prices one commodity I am familiar with is cotton. I varies from a high
or $2.00 a pound in 1864 in London due to the US Civil War Blockade to lows
of 3 or 4 cents right after World War I and in the 1930's. When corrected
for inflation it reached an all time low this year.

With proper technology it is still possible to produce cotton for a profit
in the US at world prices. It takes drip irrigation and no till and very
high yield to get the cost of production to 30 cents a pound. The average
cost of production in west Texas is 56 cents a pound and it appear that the
price support is going to be about 59 cents a pound for good grades of
cotton. I saw one sheet of cotton that was down to 46 cents.

The current price of cotton is
http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/MP_CN207.txt
http://www.ams.usda.gov/cotton/mncs/

Here is a page on world cotton production for 2000
http://www.icac.org/icac/cottoninfo/...august2000.pdf

A search on www.google.com for 'world cotton acres' bring up a lot and will
do the same for other crops. 'total world cropland would be a good search
too.

--
Gordon

Gordon Couger
Stillwater, OK
www.couger.com/gcouger