BASIC FOOD Graifiy a FRUIT of the EARTH Basic Food GROWING and USING VEGETABLES by KENNETH L

PRODUCTION:

GRAIN, A BASIC FOOD Graifiy a FRUIT OF THE EARTH Basic Food GROWING AND USING VEGETABLES by KENNETH L. MURRAY MEAT PRODUCTION AND TRADE

SEVENTY PERCENT of the harvested MILK AND acreage of the whole world—1.6 bil- DAIRY PRODUCTS lion acres—is used to grow grain. That is more than one-half acre and one- FISHERIES third of a ton of grain for each person in the world. OF THE WORLD Grain is a basic food and always has been. Grain provides directly roughly SUGAR AND- OTHER half the calories of the world's 3 bil- SWEETENERS lion people. A large portion of the other 50 percent comes indirectly from WHAT'S BEHIND grain—^the grain that has been con- verted into meat, milk, eggs, and other THE COFFEE BREAK animal products. Many countries have been expand- TEA THE WORLD ing their production, which averaged OVER approximately 650 million tons in 1949-1953 and moré than 900 million tons in recent years. The greatest in- PEPPER, VANILLA, AND creases are in corn, rice, and wheat. OTHER SPICES Barley and sorghum are of lesser importance, but their production also has COCOA AND increased rapidly. Oats and rye are declining in impor- CHOCOLATE tance^—oats because there are fewer horses and rye because less of it is used PRODUCTION, TRADE, for bread in Europe. AND USE OF TOBACCO The giants in grain production are the United States, the Soviet Union, FORESTS AND and China, which together grow more than two-fifths of the grain. ^i FOREST PRODUCTS The United States produces about 170 million tons of grain each year— FIBERS almost I ton for each inhabitant. Our production far surpasses our domestic needs. A large share, about i ton of Il8 GRAIN, A BASIC FOOD 119 every 5 tons produced, is exported. All the grains we grow in the United Our abundant grain supplies have be- States, except corn, were brought here come important in our trade relations by the early settlers. Corn was grown with other countries. They are a source by the Indians, who taught the settlers of foreign exchange earnings and one how to cultivate it. At the time of of our "foods for peace." the first census in 1839, corn production was almost 10 million tons. It has MAN'S USE of grain as a food dates from always been our leading grain. the earliest civilizations. The grains Wheat was first grown in the United are believed to have been among the States in 1602 in Massachusetts on first crops cultivated. Historians gen- Elizabeth Island. Slightly more than erally cite Asia as the area where the 2 million tons of wheat were produced primitive wheats, barley, rye, and rice in the United States in 1839. The originated. Corn may have originated leading wheat States then were Ohio, in Mexico or Central America and Pennsylvania, and New York. sorghum in tropical Africa. Oats have While wheat, barley, rye, corn, and been traced to a European origin. other grains were developing in the Wheat and barley may have been Western Hemisphere, the Far Eastern grown in the Mediterranean region as civilizations were cultivating mainly long ago as the late Bronze Age. rice and growing less of the other Barley was being used then as an ani- grains. Rice was grown in China 5 mal feed. People at first ate grain hulls thousand years or so ago, but we do and all. Later they began to remove not know in which country rice was the hulls. first grown. Rice has been a basic food The first food from wheat was in the in most of Asia for centuries. form of boiled porridge. Later, wheat In the United States, rice was suc- was used to make an unleavened flat- cessfully planted the first time about bread, for which the kernels are 1685 in the Carolinas. For some 100 ground or cracked, water is added, and years after that date, rice production the dough is baked on an open fire or in the United States was confined to fried. Flatbread is still popular in parts the swampy regions of the Carolinas of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Corn, and Georgia. During the 19th century, barley, and sometimes wheat and other other States began planting rice, and grains generally are used to make flat- by 1889 Louisiana became the Na- bread. Unlike wheat and rye, barley tion's leading rice producer. Farmers and corn cannot be used for dough that in Texas, Arkansas, California, and is to be leavened, or raised. Mississippi began to grow rice. The first raised-bread loaves may Production of rice requires relatively have been made by the Egyptians as high temperatures during the growing early as 2600 B.C. Yeast generally is season, an abundant supply of water used as the agent to raise bread. Gases (which can be supplied through irri- produced by the yeast and retained in gation), level and well-drained land, the dough cause the loaf to raise. and soil that can hold water. Those Only wheat and rye flours have the conditions exist in the rice-bowl region ability to retain these gases, but rye is of Asia, which includes Thailand, inferior in leavening properties. Indochina, and Burma. Irrigation is The book, Breads^ White and Brown, needed for rice in the United States. by R. A. McCance and E. M. Wid- dowson, points out that "the Greeks MANKIND HAS DEVELOPED and im- and the Romans seemed to have rec- proved many types of grains and has ognized, as we do today, a hard wheat put them to numerous uses. With and a soft wheat with different baking this evolutionary process has come a properties and to have sown wheat in general classification of grains accord- both autumn and spring." ing to their greatest usefulness. 120 THE YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE 1964 We can make three broad groupings: families buy bread for each meal—not Grain for direct consumption (in flour for a week. or in whole-kernel form) ; grain for In the countries that comprise the livestock and poultry feed; and grain European Economic Community, a for industrial uses, such as the pro- sizable amount of soft wheat, about duction of starch and alcohol. Wheat 20 percent of production, is fed to and rice are mostly in the first group. livestock and poultry; the proportion Corn, barley, oats, sorghum, and is highest when the harvest season is millet are used mainly for feed. Of the wet and too much moisture causes relatively small amount of grain wheat to sprout. utilized in industrial processes, barley Hard wheat makes up the bulk of and corn are used most commonly. the wheat production in the United States, Canada, Argentina, and parts THOUSANDS of varieties of wheat are of western Asia and northern Africa. grown throughout the world, but they Wheat produced in the Soviet Union all fall into one of two classifications— is generally considered hard. hard or soft. Our main producers of hard wheat Soft wheats usually are grown in are Kansas, North Dakota, Montana, places of relatively abundant rainfall. Nebraska, Washington, South Dakota, Both soft red and soft white wheats Minnesota, and Oklahoma, whose are grown in the United States. Most rainfall is considerably below that in of the soft red wheat is produced in the soft wheat States. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and Hard wheat is used primarily for Pennsylvania, where rainfall averages making bread. An exception is durum about 40 inches a year. wheat, a variety of hard wheat used The soft white wheat produced in for making macaroni, spaghetti, and the United States is grown mainly in noodles. Durum wheat is grown in the Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. United States, Canada, Spain, north- Precipitation in those States averages ern Africa and the Middle East, the below that in the soft red Wheat Belt, Soviet Union, and Italy. A small but the rainfall is more evenly amount is grown in France. The distributed. The bulk of the wheat production of durum wheat in the produced in western Europe and in United States is concentrated in North Australia consists of soft varieties. Dakota and South Dakota. The soft wheats are used for bread, cookies, crackers, pastries, rolls, cake RICE VARIETIES number in the thou- mixes, and other items. Soft-wheat sands. All fit into one of three groups— flour, however, is not well suited to long-grain, medium-grain, and short- the manufacture of packaged bread grain rice. as we know it in the United States, Long-grain rice, which has a kernel because bread made of soft wheat has length about four or five times the a short shelf life—it would be stale width, is preferred by many consumers. before it could be delivered to the It is clear and translucent; short-grain supermarket or doorstep. Places that rice has a chalky look. Long-grain grow soft wheat, such as western kernels tend to stick together much less Europe, therefore import hard wheat than the short-grain varieties. Long- to blend with domestic soft wheats for grain rice requires the longest growing flour to be used to make bread that season, needs more irrigation, and will keep. generally yields less than the others. French bread, which many people Milling long-grain rice is more ex- like, is made almost solely from the pensive, and more grains break. It domestic soft wheat, but it must be sells for more therefore than the short- eaten soon after it is made. Paris and medium-grain sorts. has countless breadshops, and French Medium-grain rice is somewhat less GRAIN, A BASIC FOOD 121 desirable to most consumers, but it dustrial products. Byproducts from generally is preferred over short-grain the manufacture of starch from corn rice and it costs less to produce and include corn sirup and corn oil. White market than the long-grain varieties dent corn is preferred for the produc- and therefore is the principal type tion of starch. Some corn is milled in grown in the United States. the United States to be eaten as meal, Short-grain rice is the chalkiest hominy, and grits. variety and has the poorest separating Flint corn is grown principally in qualities during cooking. Latin America, Europe, and Asia. A Because long-grain rice requires a small amount is grown in northern lengthy growing season, it must be parts of the United States. Flint corn grown in semitropical and tropical grown in Argentina has a higher con- climates. Production in southeastern tent of carotene than the yellow dent Asia is principally long grain. Aro- corn grown in the United States. It matic long-grain rice is grown in India produces a yellow fat in poultry and and Pakistan; nonaromatic rice is beef, and therefore enjoys a preference grown in the United States. Short- in some markets. grain rice is grown in Japan and other Flour corn is grown mainly in Latin parts of northern Asia. America and in South Africa. Small Rice milling differs from the milling amounts of flour corn are produced in of other grains in that a flour is not drier sections of the United States. produced. The inedible hulls are White, blue, and variegated are the merely removed. The rice remains in most common colors in flour corn. Its whole kernels; the kernels are not kernel is relatively soft and well suited pulverized, as they are when wheat is to the manufacture of starch. milled. Two less common groups of corn are There are difí"erent degrees of mill- popcorn and sweet corn. Both are ing. If just the inedible hulls are grown mainly in the United States and removed, brown rice results—the ker- are little known elsewhere. Few Euro- nel plus all the edible layers of bran. peans share (or know about) our liking Rice in this form is most nutritious. for corn-on-the-cob. Removal of the bran and polishing are Barley is predominantly a feed grain, further steps. Polished rice is preferred but a relatively large share goes into in many markets, including the United industrial uses. Barley is important in States. making malt, which is used principally in brewing beer and making alcohol THE COARSE GRAINS—all cereals ex- and sirups. A small amount of barley cept wheat and rice—are used mainly is milled for food ; this type is called pot for animal feed and industrial purposes. or pearl barley. Direct human consumption of coarse Most of the oats harvested in the grains is relatively small. Rye is still a world is fed to livestock, especially major food grain in central Europe, horses and poultry. Some is used for especially Germany and Poland, but food. Rolled oats, or oatmeal, is made its use for bread is declining. Corn is generally by passing the oats between used for food extensively in Latin rollers. America, Africa, and eastern Europe. Grain sorghums are a feed grain in Corn, the primary coarse grain, has the United States, but they are im- three principal types : Dent, flint, and portant as food in Africa and parts of flour corn. India. Dent corn, both yellow and white in color, forms the bulk of American and As TO overall trends in grain consump- Mexican production. It mainly is used tion in the world, some factors are for feed, but some dent corn is used to easily identified. make starch, alcohol, and other in- In countries with relatively high and 122 THE YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE 1964 rising personal incomes, people eat less Siberia seem to have reached a peak and less grain and more and more in harvested grain acreage. meat. In countries whose per capita The total wheat production in the incomes are low, diets tend to be made United States averaged about 33 up mostly of cereal foods. million tons a year in the early six- Feed grain is fed mainly to hogs and ties—a lo-percent increase over 1950- poultry. Beef and dairy cattle in the 1954. The acreage needed to produce United States are commonly fed grain, this grain has declined as a result of but not in most other countries. In Government acreage allotments, but western Europe, for instance, cattle the yields have increased more than are mostly dual purpose (meat and enough to offset the reduction in acre- milk) and are sustained on grazing age. Wheat yields in the United States rather than grain. averaged 25 bushels an acre in the sixties, compared to 22 bushels in the WHEAT, rice, and corn rank as the early fifties. world's chief grains, measured in terms Production in Canada has been rela- of production. Wheat has the largest tively stable since 1950, but in 1961 a acreage, but its yields are relatively crop failure lowered production to 7.7 low. Wheat and rice output has been million tons, about half the average. approximately equal during the past Yields in Canada have not shown a few years; together they account for tendency to increase, but seem to have about half the world's production of stabilized at about 21 bushels an acre. grain. Corn is third; it accounts for Production in France, the fifth about 20 percent. Barley, millet and largest grower, has risen sharply with- sorghum, oats, and rye follow and form out any increase in acreage. A record roughly 30 percent of world total. crop of 14 million tons in 1962 was harvested in France ; the average yield THE WORLD PRODUCTION of wheat has was 45 bushels an acre. Yields in some averaged about 225 million tons. parts of northern France reached 90 Wheat is grown in almost all countries, bushels an acre; operations there are but in only 10 countries does average largely mechanized, and fertilizer is production exceed 5 million tons a applied heavily. Also, optimum condi- year. They are the Soviet Union, the tions prevailed during planting, grow- United States, China, Canada, France, ing, and harvesting. India, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and India, Italy, and Turkey grow much Argentina. wheat but generally not enough to Methods of production vary greatly. meet their own needs. The Soviet Planting, cultivation, and harvesting Union, the United States, Canada, in mainland China, for example, still and France generally export large is principally handwork, as it was quantities of wheat. The Soviet Union centuries ago. In the United States, has been a wheat exporter, but un- Canada, Australia, and Argentina, toward weather conditions necessi- those processes are highly mechanized. tated large imports in 1963-1964. The Soviet Union, the leading pro- Australia and Argentina, where the ducer, has averaged about 50 million wheat crop averages 7 million tons and tons in recent years, although yields 5 million tons, respectively, also pro- there are lower than in any of the duce more than enough for domestic other nine countries. The average in needs and generally export some. ^ Russia is 12 bushels an acre. Produc- The highest wheat yields in th^ tion in the Soviet Union increased 54 world are obtained in Europe. Average percent between 1950-1954 and 1955- yields in the Netherlands reached 60 19595 but has stabilized since then, pri- bushels an acre in 1960-1963. They marily because fewer acres have been were about 55 bushels in the United planted to wheat. The new lands in Kingdom. Belgium, Germany, and in GRAIN, A BASIC FOOD 123 Ireland have had an average close to corn. Production there has increased 50 bushels. from about 5 million tons in the early In western Europe as a whole, the fifties to almost 11 million tons. average yields have been as high as 34 The output of Brazil, the third corn bushels an acre—compared to 24 producer, equals about 10 percent of bushels in eastern Europe, 14 in Asia, the United States production, but has 11 in Africa, 16 in South America, and gone up from about 6 million tons in 18 in Oceania. the early fifties to about i o million tons Among the factors that lead to varia- in the sixties. tions in yields from country to country Mexico, the Republic of South are the intensity of production and Africa, Yugoslavia, Argentina, and growing conditions. In countries in Rumania harvest about 5 million tons western Europe, wheat is grown in- a year each. All of them usually extensively, fertilizer application is high, port corn. and farms are relatively small. In the Of the leading corn producers, only United States and Canada, fertilizer the United States planted hybrid seed generally is used more sparingly, and almost exclusively in 1964. wheatfields seem endless. Growing conditions dictate the types grown and BARLEY is second in importance among strongly influence yields. Soft winter the coarse grains. The Soviet Union wheats, for example, are adaptable to leads in production, and the United sections of relatively high moisture and States is second. rather mild winters. Barley commonly is planted in the Hard spring wheats cannot be grown spring. The effect of a severe winter on in high-moisture areas and do not have fall-sown crops sometimes determines the benefit of a start in the fall. how many acres are planted to barley. In France in 1956-1957, for example, THE MAIN COARSE grains are corn, bar- much of the winter wheat crop was ley, oats, sorghum, and rye. World winterkilled, and the fields were production of corn averages 190 mil- resown to barley in the spring. lion tons ; barley, 80 million tons ; oats, The Soviet Union in 1962 harvested 50; and rye, 33. 15 million tons of barley—double the The United States grows about half average in the early fifties. The in- of the world's corn. Production was crease was due primarily to an exten- 70 million tons in 1950-1954 and 95 sion of barley acreage. Yields rose only million tons in 1960-1962. This large slightly. rise in output has come although the France, West Germany, and Den- acreage in corn was reduced. The aver- mark also increased their production age yield in the United States in 1950- of barley. A reduction in the planted 1954 was 39 bushels an acre and 60 acreage in the United States has been bushels in later years—the highest in offset by higher yields. the world. The use of hybrid corn seed Yields in Denmark have surpassed has been a prime factor behind this an average of 70 bushels an acre. large increase in yields. The American average has been about Average yields in other major corn- 32 bushels; the Soviet Union's, about producing countries have been : Brazil, 18 bushels. The world average is about 22 bushels an acre; Mexico, 14; Re- 25 bushels. public of South Africa, 21 ; Yugoslavia, 34; Argentina, 30; Rumania, 25; OATS is the only major grain whose India, 15; Italy, 46; Hungary, 37. production has dropped in recent Average yields worldwide are about 30 years. The United States' volume, bushels an acre. about 15 million tons, has fallen off The Soviet Union has ranked as by almost 5 million tons since the the world's second largest producer of early fifties. In Canada it has fluctu- 124 THE YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE 1964 ated but reached a high level of more The rice bowl of the world includes than 7 million tons in 1962. Production Burma, Thailand, and South Vietnam, in the Soviet Union declined from 12 an area well suited to growing rice. million tons in the early fifties to 6 Production in each has been 5 million million tons in 1962. to 8 million tons, but that meets Average yields of oats approximate domestic needs and leaves some for 43 bushels an acre in the United export. The average family farm in States, 40 in Canada, 22 in the Soviet the rice bowl grows rice on 15 acres Union, and 37 worldwide. and markets about two-thirds of its Acreage under rye has been reduced, output. but yields have increased enough to Brazil, the United States, and the offset the reduction. Europe produces United Arab Republic also grow rice. about half of the world's rye crop. Production in Brazil is partly mech- Poland, the largest producer, averages anized, but hand labor is used for 8 million tons a year—one-fourth of harvesting and some cultivating. The the world total. United States is relatively unimpor- Grain sorghums, although still junior tant in the total world production but to corn and barley, have had a great has led in introducing new technology. upsurge among growers in the United We have developed laborsaving ma- States, which has become the world's chines, higher yielding varieties, more largest producer. American production profitable methods of fertilization, has tripled since the early fifties and more effective irrigation practices, and has averaged about 13 million tons in advanced marketing techniques. Pro- later years. India is a large producer— duction in the United States is rela- about 10 million to 12 million tons. tively stable at about 2.5 million tons, Grain sorghums are popular also in about I percent of the world total. Argentina and the Sudan. Grain is the most important farm commodity in world commerce. Global RICE is to the Asian countries what exports of grain have approximated wheat is to the Western World. It is one-sixth of the total value of world a staple in the diet from Pakistan to agricultural exports. Japan. Total world grain exports have China and India, the most populous ranged between 60 million and 80 mil- countries, are leading producers of lion tons. Of that, wheat has accounted rice. The Food and Agriculture Or- for almost 60 percent; barley, about 10 ganization estimated that China pro- percent; corn, 17 percent; and rice, 9. duces about 80 million tons a year. Grain is a good deal less perishable Production in India has averaged than most other food commodities in slightly more than 50 million tons. international trade. The less-developed China and India thus grow more than countries whose food distribution sys- half the world's rice, which is set tems are not fully efläcient have found at 200 million tons a year. India and it less difficult to handle imports of China, however, export little or no grain than goods harder to store. rice; in fact, India imports about 500 The United States is the leading thousand tons annually. grain exporter. American exports of Rice is grown in China and India wheat and flour have been about 40 much as it has been for hundreds of percent of the world's total exports of years. Labor is cheap, and planting, those commodities. Our share in th^ cultivating, and harvesting are done international trade of corn is evej^ by hand. higher—slightly more than 50 percent Japan, Pakistan, and Indonesia each of the total world exports. We account produces 14 million to 16 million tons for more than 75 percent of the world of rice a year. Each, however, has had total sorghum exports and 30 percent to import rice to meet domestic needs. of the world's barley exports. In total. GRAIN, A BASIC FOOD 125 the United States exports 30 million to ume of grain exports. Both corn and 35 million tons of grain annually—the wheat shipments average somewhat production of one in every five acres. more than 2 million tons a year. About 70 percent of United States Argentina's principal wheat markets wheat exports (about 14 million tons) are Brazil and western Europe. Argen- are delivered to countries under Gov- tine corn goes mainly to Europe, ernment programs. The main receivers especially Italy. The Italian market of this wheat have been India, Paki- shows a preference for the high caro- stan, Brazil, Turkey, and the United tene content of the Argentine flint Arab Republic. The remaining 30 per- corn. Argentina also exports relatively cent of our wheat exports not under small amounts of sorghums and oats. Government programs are commer- The Soviet Union, which has been a cially sold, mainly to countries of the regular wheat exporter, had to im- European Economic Community, the port large amounts of wheat from United Kingdom, and Japan. Canada, Australia, and the United United States exports of feed grains States in 1963-1964 because of small are mainly for commercial markets. crops in 1963. Major markets for Soviet The major outlets are the United wheat have been Poland, Czechoslo- Kingdom, the European Economic vakia, East Germany, and some west- Community, and Japan. Canada is an ern European countries. important market for corn, the major France has become an important feed grain we export. exporter of wheat, barley, and corn. Canada is the second largest grain French markets include its Euro- exporter ; her shipments have averaged pean Economic Community partners, 9 million tons of wheat and more than northern Africa, eastern Europe, the I million tons of barley. United Kingdom, and China. Canadian exports of wheat are in The Republic of South Africa has direct competition with United States become a leading corn exporter, nota- exports, especially in the important bly to the European Economic Com- western European markets, which re- munity, the United Kingdom, and quire hard wheat for blending with Japan. South African corn exports are domestic soft wheats. Exports of wheat principally white flint, which enjoys a to China and the Soviet Union have preference in starch manufacture. become important to the Canadians. Burma and Thailand are the world's Canadian exports of barley have leading rice exporters. World rice been about 18 percent of the world exports have averaged about 6.5 mil- total. The major markets for Canadian lion tons a year, or less than one-fifth barley are in western Europe. Canada of wheat exports. Burmese rice exports also exports grain under a Government have been consistently above 1.5 mil- program, but the volume is small. lion tons. Thailand's exports have Australian exports of wheat have ranged between i.i and 1.6 million averaged more than 5 million tons tons. since i960. The main markets have The United States is third in rice been China, India, Japan, the United exports, averaging about 900 thousand Kingdom, other western European tons. Other regular rice exporters are countries, and the Soviet Union, Cambodia, the United Arab Republic, Australian wheat is called filler and Italy. The major importers of wheat and {unlike the hard wheats ex- rice are in the Far East and western erted by Canada and the United Europe. States) is not suited for blending with soft wheat to improve quality of flour. KENNETH L. MURRAY joined the De- Australia also exports about i million partment of Agriculture in ig^S. He is an tons of coarse grains. agricultural economist in the Grain and Argentina follows Australia in vol- Feed Division^ Foreign Agricultural Service.