On January 4, 1980, in response to the Soviet Union invasion in Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter imposed a ban on exports of grain to Russia. [Heritage Foundation article]. President Carter was still mired down unable to free the U.S. hostages taken from the Iranian embassy. This was based on a law passed by the Democratically controlled House and Senate in 1979. About the only effect of the ban was to hurt U.S. farmers, since Russia had little trouble buying their grain elsewhere.
About six months ago, one of the polls was about concern being expressed that American farmers were being squeezed out of the global wheat market due to large increases in wheat production by Russia – on a trajectory to become the world’s largest exporter of wheat by 2019 (amazing what a little freedom can do…)
Now that the world is more dependent on Russian wheat, the world is in shock this week as Russia has imposed a ban on exports of wheat – based on uncontrolled fires and drought ravaging Russia. People have been known to panic if they fear food shortages. So it begins….
