Ed's Note: Coffee in Retrospect is a column prepared by Coffee Monitor and Poor Farmer blog to provide context for the current global coffee trade by republishing news articles from the past. In this column, we intend to reprint archived prints by converting images into electronic file formats with careful conformity to originals and, whenever applicable and possible, we provide links to the sources of the information. Meanwhile, responsibility for the contents lies solely with the authors and the views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect our opinions.
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U.S. TO EXCHANGE
WHEAT FOR COFFEE
Agreement With
Brazil Signed by Farm Board Official
Aug 22, 1931
Washington,
August 21 - Two nations oppressed by excessive agricultural production today
sought a partial solution of a mutual problem by the simple expedient of
exchanging portions of their surplus crops.
An agreement was
signed under which 25,000,000 bushels of Farm Board wheat will be bartered for
1,050,000 bags of coffee held by the Brazilian Government.
Just as a huge
surplus of wheat has accumulated in the United States a tremendous supply of
coffee has piled up in the South American country.
The wheat which
is to be exchanged was bought by the Farm Board's Grain Stabilization
Corporation in the open market as part of a plan for maintaining wheat prices
at a level which would return a profit to the farmer. The Brazilian coffee
involved was acquired by that Government in similar effort to assist the
planters.
The agreement was
signed at the Brazilian Embassy by Ambassador Do Lima and George S. Milnor, president
of the Stabilization Corporation, concluding negotiations quietly conducted for
several months.
The Farm Board
has been hard pressed to find markets for the 200,000,000 bushels of wheat
acquired in its stabilization operations. Yesterday it authorized negotiations
with the Chinese Government for the sale of 15,000,000 bushels of wheat for
relief of flood sufferers in the Yangtze Valley.
--
Importers Are
Alarmed
New York, August
21 - Some concern over the announcement from Washington of the proposed
exchange of Brazilian coffee and Farm Board surplus wheat was shown by New York
coffee importers today.
The Green Coffee
Association of New York City, representing a majority of the metropolitan
coffee importers, has called a meeting for next Monday or Tuesday to consider
the situation.