Posted on 03/01/2022 6:13:03 AM PST by blam
Ukraine has earned the nickname "breadbasket of Europe" for its rich dark soil, vast wheat fields, and other farm goods. The Russian invasion has cut off the world from cheap and abundant wheat supplies.
Ukraine and Russia are vital to the global food supply, accounting for more than a quarter of global wheat trade, about a fifth of corn, and 12% of all calories traded globally, according to Bloomberg.
Reuters reports Ukrainian ports will remain closed until the Russian invasion ends and maritime security is restored for commercial ships.
This means all shipments of farm goods from Ukraine have ceased, and commodity traders will have to search elsewhere.
Activity at Ukrainian ports has been halted since Russia invaded its neighbor last week, and grains trade from Russia is also effectively on pause. Sanctions have been ratcheted up to further isolate commodity-rich Russia from global finance by sanctioning its central bank and cutting off various leaders from the critical SWIFT financial messaging system.
Restricting grain supplies from the Black Sea region threatens to further boost global food prices that are near a record high, at a time when supplies are already strained with adverse weather in many growing regions. - Bloomberg
"If the conflict is prolonged -- three months, four months from now -- I feel the consequences could be really serious," Andree Defois, president of consultant Strategie Grains, told Bloomberg. "Wheat will need to be rationed."
Michael Magdovitz, a senior analyst at Rabobank, said Ukraine and Russia had increased harvests and exports in the last decade at a far lower cost than western farmers, which helped keep wheat prices low. However, that's not the case today as the Russian invasion sends wheat futures trading in Chicago to a six-year high.
"I'm not going to put a lid on what might happen," Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX, told Bloomberg. "We could easily be looking at record prices."
Kyiv-based researcher UkrAgroConsult warned, "the chain of product creation, from cultivation to port shipments, is paralyzed."
This brings us back to Goldman's Global Head of Commodities Research Jeffrey Currie, who told Bloomberg TV earlier this month that he's never seen commodity markets pricing in the shortages they are right now.
"I've been doing this 30 years and I've never seen markets like this," Currie told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Monday. "This is a molecule crisis. We're out of everything, I don't care if it's oil, gas, coal, copper, aluminum, you name it we're out of it."
As supplies tighen, the Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index soars to new record highs.
The disruption comes as global food prices are already nearing record-highs and could soon be catapulted into unknown territory.
Everything does fluctuate daily.
Ever heard of the CME?
Have you heard of winter wheat?
You know, the type of wheat that’s used to make bread?
Planted in the fall, harvested in early summer.
...and beans above the teens soon.
This wheat tastes like gun powder.
There are a large number of nations that would be as bad off as North Korea or worse if they had to depend on their own agricultural production.
Thank God for North Dakota.
When does North Dakota invade South Dakota to reunite the Dakotas?
Revelation 6:6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”
I thought Bill Gates owned ND. And some chinese.
The Hunger Games
If anyone wants to try their hand at growing wheat, I recommend checking out:
https://greatlakesstapleseeds.com/
https://rockymountainseeds.org
and https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/collections/grains
There are other places that sell seeds, but those have the widest selection for grain seeds that I’ve found.
When choosing your variety, pay attention to whether or not it’s a spring or winter wheat. Winter wheats get planted in the fall, spring wheat gets planted in the spring. I recommend trying a few different varieties to see which does best for you.
If you prefer pastries and biscuits, a soft wheat will suit you best. If you like yeast breads, you’ll get better results with a hard wheat. Red wheat has a stronger flavor than white, and some varieties are easier to thresh than others. If harvesting by hand, I also recommend paying attention to height. Tall wheats can be harvested while standing, but short ones require you to get down on the ground.
There are lots of different threshing methods out there. Do a search on “bucket thresher” to find instructions on one of the simpler threshers you can make.
If you prefer being able to remove the bran, there are a few options out there. Special sifting screens can remove most of the bran after the grain has been ground into flour. There is also a device called a rice polisher, which removes the bran from grains while they’re whole.
If you’re concerned about something like ergot, get a blacklight lamp or flashlight. Fungi tend to glow under black light, and you can use this to inspect your grain.
The actual growing process has a learning curve to it. My first attempt at growing wheat was a disaster, even though I’d been reading up on it for years. So even if you don’t think you’ll need to grow your own, I encourage you to grow some anyway, just so you can get the hang of it before it ever becomes necessary.
Wow, the Dutch shut down a major gas field sending fertilizer prices through the roof and no wheat from Russia or Ukraine.
Buy corn and soybeans?
Who needs fertilizer if you aren’t growing any wheat?
Earlier this morning I was wondering what Russian Preppers are thinking/doing?
Africa will starve. Way to dependent on rich nations sending them food. It will be too expensive to just give away.
That was my thought
Spring Wheat is not planted here yet
And usually we hold back production to keep prices higher
Winter wheat though has already been seeded a few months
I’d like to take this moment to please remind all Freepers :
Remember to EAT YOUR WHEATIES!
Only a handful of African nations, like troubled Nigeria and Somalia, depend on food imports. Surprisingly, most of Africa is food self-sufficient, and could produce a lot more with modernized techniques.
I was a big Wheaties eater as a kid...."The Breakfast Of Champions".
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