[lbo-talk] Cuba's painful transition from sugar economy

[Gar Lipow]

On 8/27/05, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> Gar Lipow wrote:
> 
> >Interestingly enough Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
> >supports Michael's argumentson wheat.
> 
> How is that different from what I, or the USDA, said?
> 
Well it is  different from the USDA because the USDA shows U.S. wheat
yield at above the world  average, where the FAO shows U.S. production
at below the world average. It is different from what you said,
because on wheat at least it does seem the U.S. is a slouch.  U.S. 
wheat yield per acre may only be slightly below the world average, but
it is at least a third below the average of the developed world as a
whole, with a much larger difference from nations with the best yield.

Actually I don't  know if we are disagreeing. I don't say  U.S.
agriculture is unproductive - just that it could be as or more
productive without gulping such huge amounts of fossil  fuel or using
such overwhelming amounts of poison.  And that the techniques for
doing so are mature, well known, and not more expensive (even in the
narrow market sense) than conventional industrial agriculture - that
in fact they are a form of industrial  agriculture.

I also think it importantt that we not overrate the success of U.S.
agriculture. It is highly productive, but NOT the worlds most
productive.  Certainly not in yield per acre, and I suspect not in
yield per person hour either. Many EU nations have higher labor costs
than the  U.S.; it would be surprising if the high wage EU nations use
agricultural labor less efficiently than the U.S. does. Since I
provide some statistics on yield per acre,, does someone else want to
return the favor  with yield per person hour?