Listen! A wheat boom is coming

Owing to the soaring prices of wheat during the past few months, agriculture fields across the world have witnessed a welcome change. More and more farmers opted to sow wheat in their fields rather than any other crop. This was evident from the story of a Queensland family in Australia. Even though the event has nothing much to do with the rising prices of wheat, there is a message for the world — produce more foodgrains if you want to save the world from starvation. This is precisely what the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is also preaching. Now the story. In a record of sorts, the Coggan family in southern Queensland planted about 850 hectares of wheat seeds in 24 hours. The mass planting was not only for the sake of setting a new Guinness World Record but also to raise funds for a hospital that saved the life of a member of the family. Phillip Coggan, his father John and fellow farm workers Les Bruce and Steve Wall planted the seeds using one tractor between them. They worked non-stop on the family’s Meandarra property from noon (Australian time) Wednesday. Phillip Coggan said he estimated they had planted 850 hectares, but was awaiting confirmation. A result is expected to be announced this week. If Coggan’s calculations are correct, the four men have smashed the former Ukrainian record of 642 hectares. “My father had a heart transplant three years ago,” Coggan said. He was given a 10 per cent chance of living. He had to have his chest open 12 or more times. During the seven weeks (before the heart transplant) I was working on the idea of not ever seeing him again.” At 61, John Coggan shows no signs of his brush with death and is fit by any standards to plant seeds for an entire day. The record attempt has raised about $40,000 so far for the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation’s research on artificial hearts. Coggan said the biggest wheat-planting attempt was his nine-year-old son Tom’s idea. “He found it on the internet and said: “Dad I think we can do that,” he said. Even if they don’t break the record, the Coggans stand to make a tidy profit down the track — wheat prices are high, partly due to global food shortages. Many Queensland grain growers are still battling drought, but the Coggans got lucky with decent rains in May and June. The world record bid took place under strict conditions. Seeds were planted at 120 per square metre, scientists monitored the event, and a GPS was used to ensure accuracy. Lobby group Agforce Grains was the chief scrutineer, as required under the Guinness World Records. Even as the Coggans jump on the whet bandwagon, across the world the trend is catching up. In the US also famers are now going for wheat in a big way. There’s been no recorded tally of wheat in New England since 1946. But under the radar, farmers in Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts have been growing small quantities of wheat for years. Now, lured by high prices and growing consumer demand for breads made with local flours, they’re expanding. The expansion of small acreages in New England reflects a much larger nationwide shift back to wheat. After reaching a low of 57.2 million acres in 2005, farmers are expected to plant 63.8 million this year – an 11.5 per cent increase. The extra boost in production should allow the United States to sell more of its grain abroad. US wheat exports are expected to jump 30 per cent this year. The relative surge in prices has not created a flood of newly minted wheat farmers – at least not yet. One reason for the restraint: The increase in production has brought prices down. Wheat prices have fallen by nearly a quarter since a high of $24 a bushel in late February. Another obstacle: Higher costs are eating into higher profits. And New England appears to be one of the epicenters for artisan, niche bakeries, where much of the demand for locally-grown wheat seems to be coming from consumers.