The first comprehensive study since 1987 of agricultural productivity in America has just been completed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The results reveal that even after three years, the United States still lags behind prewar productivity by nearly 50 percent. As a result, U.S. exports have dropped by more than 95 percent.
In 1987, for example, the nine major agricultural exports were wheat, oats, corn, barley, rice, soybeans, tobacco, edible vegetable oils, and cotton. In that year the United States accounted for more than 30 percent of the total world production in these nine products. In 1991, however, the U.S. accounted for only 14 percent of the total world production. Table One summarizes this trend.
The Department’s recent study also confirms early surveys, which suggested that the 19 states most directly affected by the war remain considerably behind the rest of the nation in agricultural recovery. These states were either directly struck by the Soviets in 1988 or suffered from high levels of radioactive fallout. Total U.S. agricultural production is particularly affected because of the high prewar concentration of farms in these 19 states.
Although the study covers all phases of agriculture, wheat production is used as a standard to reveal the scope of diminished American productivity. Table Two uses wheat-production data for 1987 and 1991 as a benchmark for demonstrating the effects of the war in 19 critical states.
| COMMODITY | 1987 | 1991 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. PERCENTAGE OF WORLD PRODUCTION | PERCENTAGE OF U.S. EXPORTS | U.S. PERCENTAGE OF WORLD PRODUCTION | PERCENTAGE OF U.S. EXPORTS | |
| Wheat | 18.1% | 53.0% | 7.9% | Negligible |
| Oats | 18.3 | 5.1 | 6.7 | Neg. |
| Corn | 49.2 | 73.2 | 30.4 | Neg. |
| Barley | 7.3 | 11.9 | 4.2 | Neg. |
| Rice | 2.7 | 24.4 | 2.0 | Neg. |
| Soybeans | 65.0 | 87.0 | 42.3 | 10.1% |
| Tobacco | 17.1 | 22.1 | 14.6 | 5.2 |
| Veg. oils | 28.3 | 14.0 | 16.7 | .5 |
| Cotton | 20.2 | 37.6 | 9.4 | Neg. |
| STATE | WHEAT PRODUCTION IN MILLIONS OF BUSHELS | |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 1991 | |
| Maryland | 6.1 | less than 1 |
| Montana | 181.3 | 32.2 |
| North Dakota | 352.6 | 67.8 |
| New York | 7.6 | 2.1 |
| WAR ZONES | ||
| New Jersey | 2.5 | less than 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 9.9 | 3.2 |
| South Dakota | 93.2 | 8.7 |
| Texas | 189.4 | 110.2 |
| Virginia | 18.1 | 7.8 |
| Wyoming | 9.2 | 2.5 |
| Indiana | 68.3 | 43.2 |
| Iowa | 5.1 | 3.1 |
| Kansas | 331.1 | 170.3 |
| Michigan | 46.7 | 30.2 |
| FALLOUT ZONES | ||
| Minnesota | 160.2 | 93.2 |
| Missouri | 125.1 | 87.7 |
| Ohio | 83.4 | 43.8 |
| Nebraska | 115.5 | 23.2 |
| Wisconsin | 7.2 | 3.7 |
In 1987, these 19 states accounted for 60 percent of all U.S. wheat production. Combined with the overall reduction in the number of farms since 1988, total American wheat production is approximately half of what it was before the war.
The full report, detailing all aspects of U.S. productivity, is available as it Comprehensive Study of American Agricultural Production, 1987–1991, AG92-S1-8. Copies are available for PIO from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Los Angeles, California 90047, or from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in major cities.
I Will
The rich farmland of northern Missouri was dusted brown, the towns were brown, the late-summer trees were hazed with dust.
Each town we passed through granted us a secret glimpse down its streets. An occasional decontamination team could be seen in white coveralls, seeking slowly along the sidewalks, or a cleanup crew with a water truck spraying the pavement. We saw into backyards where people were cleaning clothing, furniture, and each other with hoses.
And everywhere, as passengers came and went, we heard tales of the storm. It was the biggest duster in history. Winds clocked at a hundred and ten miles an hour and more in town after town.
Took roofs, cars, collapsed buildings, reduced a dozen trailer parks to pulverized aluminum.
Despite it all, we found a powerful spirit moving among the people that seemed at moments almost otherworldly, as surprising as sudden speech from a Trappist.
SYLVIE WEST, MARCELINE, MISSOURI: “I’m goin’ up the line to La Plata to see that my mother’s okay. We been in Missouri a long time, us Wests. We aren’t going anywhere. A lot of people from around here went south, down to Alabama and Georgia and Florida. There’s trouble getting into Georgia. But this is good land, and we just decided we’d stick it out. The storm? I’ve seen dust before.”
Sylvie West was the color of the land, yellow-gray. Her arms were as long and improbable as the legs of a mantis. She was missing her bottom teeth.
GEORGE KIMBALL, EDINA, MISSOURI: “It wasn’t all that hot. We got a real low dose in Edina. I’m looking at it this way—I just got myself a whole lot of good black dirt from Nebraska scot-free. Hell no, I’m not goin’ anywhere. I stayed right in Edina through the war and the famine and the flu. That’s the place for me. I’m a farmer, of course. I guess you could say I like the look of the town, and I like the people. The stayers, that is. The loafers and the new people all went south. But Missouri needs her people now, and I am not leaving,”