by MrBill » Fri 13 Oct 2006, 07:36:06
Re: Peak Grain news
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he USDA, which provides one of the most authoritative reports on global grain markets, said global wheat production would fall by 11m tons to 585.1m, causing global stockpiles to drop a further 7.1m from its previous forecast, to 119.3m. This represents a fall of 20 per cent from a year ago, putting stocks at their lowest level since 1981.
A drop of 11m tons in one year from to ending stocks of 119.3m is not the end of the world and does not necessarily signal the beginning of the end. The world did not end in 1981 either. With or without peak oil and resource depletion there are always going to be drought years followed by years with good harvests.
Also, price signals to the market mean that farmers may be making economic choices of what to and what not to grow? Wheat prices are rising this year relative to corn, and especially soybeans, but starting from a low base. I have not seen the latest USDA numbers, but last I looked the overall year on year numbers of total world grain production were still in a strong uptrend? Mind you so is population growth....
The 11m ton drop is less than 2% of the 585m and the breakdown for other grains is not even given. I do not know where they get their 20% drop? It is one year's worth of data, so just like this year was a quiet year for hurricanes in the Gulf compared to last year, next year's harvests may look quite different.
Long term it may be a problem as some areas of the world become hotter and dryer while other parts become unseasonably wetter and cooler. Malthus is not dead, yet, but I would still argue distribution and not production is still the number one problem with shortages of food.
The organized state is a wonderful invention whereby everyone can live at someone else's expense.