Wheat Production Rises in Face of World Demand

Wheat Production Rises in Face of World Demand
The F.A.O. points to a big increase in winter plantings in northern countries. But low supplies may keep prices from coming down quickly. Transcript of radio broadcast:
25 February 2008

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Wheat supplies around the world are at their lowest level in thirty years. Wheat supplies in the United States are at their lowest in sixty years.

But the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome has some good news. It says a big increase in winter wheat plantings in northern countries is likely to result in much higher production this year. The F.A.O. points out, though, that these predictions are based on normal weather conditions.

Wheat production last year is now estimated at just over six hundred million tons. That was up one percent from two thousand six -- not as much as had been hoped. Almost all of the increase was among large producers in Asia.

Prices are up sharply for wheat but also for most other cereal crops. The F.A.O. says big production increases may be required for more than one season for prices to fall much below their recent highs.

The United States Department of Agriculture has come out with its own agricultural predictions, to the year two thousand seventeen. Wheat plantings in the United States are expected to rise sharply this year in reaction to high prices. But wheat hectarage is expected to fall back for the longer term as a result of competition from other crops.

The United States is the leading exporter of wheat. The government says that by summer, American farmers will export one-fifth more than earlier predicted. But demand is also up at home. More wheat is needed for animal feed to replace corn being grown to make fuel.

World wheat supplies are also down because in some countries, including the United States, bad weather has reduced production.

Something else that can reduce wheat production is the wheat curl mite. In nineteen ninety-five, it caused about thirty-five million dollars in damage in the American Midwest. It causes an infection called wheat streak mosaic virus.

Government experts say pesticides are not especially effective against the wheat curl mite. But this year, the Agricultural Research Service at the Department of Agriculture is making a new winter wheat available to resist the virus.

Robert Graybosch developed it with scientists from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Kansas State University. The new wheat is called Mace. The scientists say in tests, two to three times more Mace was harvested from virus-infected fields than other kinds of wheat.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty.

----------------------------Google Translate

小麦产量上升，在面对世界需求
粮农组织点，以较大幅度增长，在冬季栽培，在北方国家。但低供应可能保持价格来迅速回落。全文电台广播：
2008年2月25日

这是美国之音特别英语农业部报告。

小麦供应世界各地都在历史最低水平，在三十年。小麦用品，在美国正处于最低点，在六十年。

但是，联合国粮食与农业组织在罗马有一些好消息。它说，大幅增加冬小麦种植，在北方国家，也很容易造成高得多的生产今年。粮农组织指出，虽然，这些预测是基于正常的天气状况。

小麦产量在去年现在估计刚刚超过600000000吨。这是一个比2000六-不是多了希望。几乎所有的资产增加，其中大型生产商在亚洲。

价格大幅上升，小麦，而且对大多数其他谷类作物。粮农组织说，大生产的增加，可能需要一个以上的季节，价格下降，远低于其近期高点。

美国农业部门已经走出来，与自己的农业预测，到今年2000十七年。小麦种植在美国可望大幅增加，今年在反应的高价格。但小麦面积预计依傍就长期而言是一个竞争的结果，从其他作物。

美国是主要出口国的小麦。政府说，今年夏季以来，美国农民将出口五份之一以上较早前预测。但是需求也在上升在家中。更多的是小麦所需的动物性饲料，以取代玉米生长，使燃料。

全球小麦供应也下降，因为在一些国家，包括美国，恶劣天气已减少生产。

别的可以降低小麦生产是小麦曲螨。在1995年，造成约3500.0万美元的损失，在美国中西部。它造成感染所谓小麦花叶病毒。

政府专家说，农药是不是特别有效的针对小麦曲螨。但今年以来，农业研究服务于农业部门，是使冬小麦新可用来对抗病毒。

罗伯特graybosch发达，它与大学的科学家们于内布拉斯加州的林肯和堪萨斯州州立大学。新的小麦被称为锏。科学家说，在测试中， 2时58倍以上锏是收获的，由病毒感染的领域比其他种小麦。

这也是该美国之音特别英语农业部报告，写jerilyn沃森。我鲍勃奥尔布赖特在强悍。