Tue, 25 Jan 2005

An Appalling Statistic

For every box of Wheaties with his picture on it, Tiger Woods earns a dime. For the wheat used to make the cereal in that same box, the producer gets a little less than a nickel.

A bushel of wheat weighs about 60 pounds, and will make about 50 loaves of bread. The current price of a bushel of wheat is around $3. The current price of a loaf of bread is about $2. Do the math, and you'll understand a large part of the frustration producers have with commodities markets, futures trading and large corporate entities controlling the price structure in agriculture.

This info came from several spots on the web, notably futures trading sites, Congressional Agriculture Committee hearings and a report from AAA Livestock.

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