Agriculture in the United States and the Soviet Union:

Transcription

1 Agriculture in the United States and the Soviet Union: A STATISTICAL COMPARISON By Jerome A Levine FOREIGN REGIONAL ANALYSIS DIVISION FILE COPY ONLY Do Not Remove FDCD ERS JUNE 1968 This statistical study compares the structure, resource allocation, and performance of agriculture in the United States and Soviet Union These indicators provide, at best, only general guidelines for judging agricultural performance Data on geographic and climatic conditions, soil, farm management techniques, and institutional and political frameworks are not presented, but are reflected in the comparative tables The main Soviet farm area g~ti~~ 1 r farther north than the U s grain b~rtfie Ukraine is at a latitude approximately the same as the spring wheat belt in the northern United States and Canada This latitudi~a:l position, coupled with low precipitation, results in a capricious climate that is somep~s_;;:; ~ ;[byojjfred workers severe and dry These geographic factors - have sharply limited the expansion of Soviet farm output since the grqwing and pasturing seasons are short and crop yields are low and unstable Land ownership is basically different in the United States and the Soviet Union All land in the USSR is Government-owned and nearly all of it is socialized The functions of agricultural production are guided by a central state plan operating through a complex of large collective farms, state farms, and auxiliary farm units attached to state enterprises The collective farms occupy over half the total sown acreage; most of the remaining acreage is in state farms The private sector, about 3 percent of total agricultural land, consists mainly of small plots tilled by collective and state farm members in their spare time About one-third of total agricultural--"'production comes from these qflsfs'l,f'i',t\i_ the produce is either consumed by -,- ' ' - '1 the farnrers' families or sold to the state or through farmers markets American farms are small by comparison with the Soviet complexes; most are operated by the farmowner and his family, sometimes with one or The functions of management are difficult to compare because of differences in the size of Soviet and American farms Soviet collective farm chairmen and state farm directors probably bear the closest resemblance to managers of American corporatetype farms However, Soviet farm managers are not fully responsible for making economic decisions directly affecting the output and profits of the enterprises Their position is ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

2 to respond to directives rather than to make independent decisions Recent Soviet interest in economic accountability suggests a trend toward more managerial autonomy in the actual production process The difficult job of pricing farm products, however, remains in the Soviet Government's domain rather than as a function of consumer demand Although the U S Government helps to shape the broad activities of production, marketing, pricing, and trade through support of farm prices, income, and foreign trade expansion, internal operations are conducted by private farmers with minor exceptions The present Soviet regime is promoting greater efficiency in agriculture by increasing the level of inputs and by improving incentives of the rural labor force These measures include financial concessions to farmers, more emphasis on livestock products in the Soviet diet, and expanded use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and drainage Although the Soviets have recently narrowed the gap in many areas of agricultural efficiency, production, and performance, numerous deficiencies are still evident in the following tables The United States, in comparison, uses less labor and land but more capital to achieve greater output Farm efficiency, measured in terms of output per unit of input, is substantially higher in the United States than in the USSR for land, livestock, and labor Yields per acre of most crops are lower in the USSR than in the United States Foreign trade in farm commodities is far more important for the United States, the world's largest exporter and second largest importer of agricultural products, than for the Soviet Union Both countries have adequate food supplies, in terms of calories per person, hut the structure of the respective diets differs greatly The Soviet diet still places great emphasis on cereal products and potatoes, whereas American diets are, to a great extent, composed of vegetables, fruits, and foods of animal origin A comparison of Soviet and U S agriculture for a single year may be misleading because of the vagaries of weather In 1966, almost ideal weather conditions in both the winter and spring grain regions of the USSR resulted in output far above the previous record of 1964 The United States, however, experienced several periods of adverse weather in 1966 which, along with reduced planted acreage, resulted in a slight decline from the 1965 record output of grains For a review of the current situation in Soviet Agriculture, consult: The Europe and Soviet Union Agricultural Situation Econ Res Serv, U S Dept Agr, ERS-Foreign 220, April 5, 1968 Agricultural Policies in Europe and the Soviet Union, Econ Res Serv, US Dept Agr, Foreign Agr Econ Rpt No 46, June

3 Table 1--Agricultural resources, United States and Soviet Union, specified years Item :Year Unit : United States 'Soviet Union : USSR :as per :centage :of us Population, July l :1966 Millions Civilian labor force (work : ~/1969 ~/233-2 experience) : 3/863 4/1184 Annual average employment : Annual average employment in agriculture : Farm share of total employment: ~/72-9 /5-2 :!f/1100 ~/398 (annual average) : Sown cropland : :Million acres: ]/298 ~/511 Sown cropland per capita : : Acres Tractors on farms, January 1 :1967 : Thousands _2/4,815 10/1,660 Motor trucks on farms January l Grain combines on farms : 9/3,100 - _2/880 10/l, /531 Agricultural consumption of : :Billion kwh Use of commercial fertilizer electricity :1966 ll/291 12/232 in terms of principal plant nutrients: Total : : 1, 000 short :13/12,445 14/7,707 tons Per acre of sown area do Pounds / US Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States: l9b7, 88th ed, Washington, DC, 1967, p 5 2/ USSR Central Statistical Directorate, Narodnoye khozyaystvo SSSR v 1965 g, Moscow, 1966, p 7 3/ US Department of Labor, Work erience of the Population in 1966, Washington, DC, Oct 1967, p 4 US Department of Commerce, Estimates and Projections of the Labor Force-and Civilian Employment in the USSR, , Washington, DC, June 1967, p 15 5/ Statistical Abstract op cit, p 221 6/ US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics 1967, Washington, DC, 1967, p 528 7/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, p 531 8/ USSR Central Statistical Directorate, Strana sovetov za 50 let, Moscow, 1967, p 129 9/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, p / Strana sovetov op cit, p / USDA, Statistical Reporting Service, Agricultural Prices, Washington, D:c, Dec 1967, p 25 Average consumption in June times 12 12/ Strana sovetov op cit, p / USDA, Statis Rptg Serv, COnsumption of Commercial Fertilizers in the united States, Washington, DC, May 1967, p 16 14/ Strana sovetov op cit, p 161-3

4 Table 2--Farm numbers and size, and selected data per farm, United States and Soviet Union, 1966 Item Unit us farms Soviet Union Collective State farms farms Total : Number l/3,239,000 2/36,493 2/12,196 Land area per farm : Acres - l/351 3/31,425 3]120, 632 Sown area per farm : -4/92 -'2_/6, 919-5/18,038 Workers per farm : Number f}l6 1/417-7/651 Land area per worker 8/ : Acres Sown area per worker 2/ : l/ USDA, Statis Rptg Serv, Number of Farms and Land in Farms, Washington, DC, Jan 10, 1968, p l 2/ USSR Central Statistical Directorate, SSSR v tsifrakh v 1966 godu, Moscow, 1967, p 112 3/ Strana sovetov op cit, p 127 Total land area divided by number of-farms State category includes land of state farms and other state agricultural enterprises 4/ Total sown area divided by number of farms 5/ Strana sovetov op cit, p 117 b/ Average annual employment divided by number of farms 7/ Strana sovetov op cit, p 117 Households per collective farm and workers per state farm 8/ Land area per farm divided by workers per farm 2/ Sown area per farm divided by workers per farm 4

5 Table 3--Crop acreage, United States and Soviet Union, 1966 Crop United States 1/ Soviet Union 2/ : USSR as per :centage of US : ,000 acres Corn, grain Wheat Rye : Oats : Barley : Sorghum grain in US; pulses in USSR : Rice : Cotton : Soybeans for beans : Sunflowers : Peanuts harvested for nuts : Flax 1/ : Sugarbeets : Sugarcane, for sugar and seed : Tobacco : Potatoes : Sweetpota toes ~ : Vegetables 9/ : 56,933 49,867 1,275 17,861 10,205 12,813 1,967 9,552 36,546 5/73 l-;418 2, 576 1, , ,421 Fruits {including citrus), grapes, berries, and nuts 10/3,046 Citrus : -12/932 Hay, all :l3/b5,140 7, ,970 33,606 17,791 47,937 14,579 3/598 b,079 ~/2,088 12, 355 6/ 3,459 9,390 6/ 8/348 20,756 6/ 3,459 ll/6, 323-8/20 14/79-; , , l, / USDA, Statis Rptg Serv, Crop Production, 1967 Annual Summary, Washington, DC, Dec 19, 1967, pp 37-40, unless otherwise noted Area harvested 2/ SSSR v tsifrakh op cit, pp 84-85, unless otherwise noted Sown area-after completion of spring planting 3/ Sel'skaya zhizn', June 7, / RSFSR Central Statistical Directorate,-Narodnoye khozyaystvo RSFSR v 1965 g, Moscow, 1966, p 191 Data are for RSFSR, where most soybean area is located 5/ USDA, Econ Res Serv, Fats and Oils Situation, FOS-239, Washington, D:c, Sept 28, 1967, p 27 Data are for Minnesota and North Dakota, where most commercial production is located 6/ Negligible 7/ Flaxseed in the United States, fiber flax in the USSR ~;-usda estimate -2/ Commercial acreage only of 27 crops in the United States; total acreage of all vegetables, except melons, in the Soviet Union 10/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, pp 275, 298 for major berries Crop Production op cit, p 46, for other fruits, nuts, and grapes Total includes bearing area or commercial area harvested of 26 major fruits, grapes, berries, and nuts ll/ Narodnoye khozyaystvo SSSR op cit, p data on bearing area 12/ Crop Production op cit, p 46 Bearing area 13/ Ibid, p 66 14/ Strana sovetov op cit, p 129 Sown annual and-perennial grasses, including grain cut for green feed 5

6 Table 4--Yield per acre and production of major crops, United States and Soviet Union, 1966 Crop Unit Yield per acre USSR?:_/ us];_/ USSR as :percentage of us Unit us ]:_/ Production USSR USSR as :percentage of us "' Corn, grain : Wheat : Rye : Oats : Barley : Sorghum grain in US; pulses in USSR Bushels Rice, rough :Pounds Cotton, lint : Soybeans for beans :Bushels Sunflowerseed : Pounds Peanuts harvested for nuts : Flaxseed : Bushels Sugarbeets : Short tons Sugarcane for sugar and seed : Sugar production : Tobacco : Pounds Fiber flax : Potatoes : cwt Sweetpotatoes : Vegetables ll/ : Short tons Citrus ~ : Grapes : Total fruits (including citrus1: grapes, berries, and nuts : Hay : , /894 1, l, 93, /57 :1}7124 : :17/ ,354 4/ ,008 8/52-87 l, n1> / o l, 000 bushels 1,000 short tons: 1,000 bales l, 000 bushels 1,000 short tons: l, 000 bushels 1,000 short tons: 1,000 pounds 1,000 short tons: 1,000 cwt 1,000 short tons: 1,000 boxes 1,000 short tons: 4,117,355 1,311,702 27, , , ,992 4,251 9, ,481 6/33 1~205 23,390 20,342 24,515 9/6, 187 1,"8"88, ,902 13,697 19,650 14/11,553 14/3,734 16/22,370 i77l2l,027 3/267,702 3/3, 123, 155-3/472,416 3/516,705 J/l, 102,296 3/231,812-3/704 5/9, ,900-3/6,228-7/ 8/22,400 5/81,570-7/ 10/lO, o4,loo - 5/508 3/1,744,059-7/ 2_/19, /3,724 15/8, , l, l , I 1/ Crop Production op cit, pp 3-5, less otherwise noted Area harvested 2/ Derived from production and area unless otherwise noted 3/ USDA estimate 4/ Entire area is rigated 5/ Strana sovetov op cit~, p 131 6/ Fats and Oils op cit, p$27 Data are-for Minnesota and North Dakota, where most commercial production is located 7/ Negligible 8/ USDA, Foreign Agr Serv, World 'Agricultural Production and Trade, Washington, DC, Feb 1968, p 31 9/ Continental beets and cane, Including Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands 10/ Strana sovetov op cit, p 102 Production from domestic beets and imported Cuban raw sugar 11/ Commercial production of 27 crops in the United States; total output of all vegetables, except melons, in the Soviet Union 12/ Derived from production and area 13/ Crop Production op cit, p 40 Data are for four major citrus fruits 14/ Ibid, p~4 Data are for six major citrus fruits 15/ Strana sovetov op cit, p / Crop Production op cit, pp~3,~ Includes 24 major fruits, grapes, berries, and nuts 17/ Ibid, p 66 All hay 18/ sown-area only Production datum is USDA estimate = not available

7 Table 5--Livestock numb rs, selected years, United States and Soviet Union Livestock :Beginning of year United States ];_/ Soviet Union?:/ USSR as percentage of us Cows 1967 All cattle 1967 Hogs 1967 Sheep 1967 Poultry 1966 Million head /498 ~/ ~/399-9 / l/ Agricultural Statistics op cit pp / Strana sovetov op cit, p 150, unless otherwise noted 3/ Cows, 2 years and older, included in cattle 4/ All cows included in cattle 5/ Chickens and turkeys only, excluding commercial broilers ~/ Narodnoye khozyaystvo SSSR op cit, p 375 All poultry 7

8 Table 6--Production of livestock commodities, United States and Soviet Union, 1966 Commodity Unit United States Soviet Union USSR as :percentage of Us Beef and veal : Pork : Mutton, lamb, and goat : Foul try meat : Iard ~/ : Margarine and shortening : Tallow and grease 4/ : Milk ( cows ) -:- : Butter : Eggs : Wool ll/ : Mil lb Billion Mil lb l/20,604 I/11,328 l/650 J/7, 596 1,932 5,291 5,026 7/120,230-8/l, 128-9/664 12/250 2/8,245 2/7,440 2/l, 587 ~/1, 764 1,800 6/l, 321-4/530 2/147,990-6/2,297 Ioj31 7 l0/ ll l/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, p 418 2/ USDA estimate }/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, p 492 Total production certified under Federal inspection 4/ USDA, Foreign Agr Serv, Foreign Agriculture Circular, FFO 9-67, Washington, DC, Oct 1967, pp / Agricultural Statistics op cit, pp b/ Strana sovetov op cit, p 102 1/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, p 445 B/ USDA, Econ Res Serv, Dairy Situation, DS-318, Washington, DC, Nov 6, 1967, p 18 9/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, p / Strana sovetov op cit, p 149 ll/ Greasy basis 12/ Agricultural Statistics op cit, p 412 8

9 Table 7--Area of major grains, United States and Soviet Union, average , annual 1966 Average : USSR : USSR Item : United : Soviet :as per-: United : Soviet :as per :States ~/:Union g/ :centage:states ~/:Union 2/ :centage :of US: :of us :----~,000 acres ,000 acres---- Feed grains: Corn, grain : Oats : Bar ley : Sorghum grain and pulses~/ : 56,658 21,162 11,135 12,131 4 feed grains : 101,086 14,544 17,989 45,269 19,657 97, ,933 17,861 10,205 12,813 7,907 17,791 47,937 14,579 97,812 88, Food grains: Wheat : Rye : Buckwheat : Rice : 48,017 1,655 5/46 1~ ,569 40,277 4, food grains : 51, ,776 Total 8 grains : 152, , ,434 9, ,867 1,275 1, ,970 33,606 4, ~/53, , ~/150, , , / Crop Production op cit, p 36 2/ Narodnoye khozyaystvo SSSR 1965 op cit, p 284, and Narodnoye khozyaystvo SSSR 1962, p 247 3/ SSSR v tsifrakh op cit, p 84 4/ Sorghum grain for US; pulses for USSR 5/ ' only ~/ Excludes buckwheat in us = not available 9

10 Table 8--Yields per acre of major grains, United States and Soviet Union, average , annual 1966 Average : USSR : USSR Item United : Soviet :as per-: United : Soviet :as per :States ~/:Union~/ :centage:states ~/:Union~/ :centage :of us: :of us -----Bushels Bushels----- Feed grains: Corn, grain : Oats t, Barley : o Sorghum grain and pulses 1/ : Food grains: Wile at o : Rye ~ : Buckwheat ;2/l Rice : Pounds Pounds----- Average yield: : 4 feed grains : 2, ,222 l,lll 34 4 food grains : 1, ,670 1, Total 8 grains : 2, ,662 l, / Crop Production op cit, p 39, unless otherwise noted 2/ Derived from tables 7 and 9 J/ Sorghum grain for US; pulses for USSR = not available 10

11 Table 9--Production of major grains, United States and Soviet Union, average , annual 1966 Average USSR USSR Item United : Soviet : as per-: United : Soviet : as per :States ~/:Union g/: centage:states ~/:Union g/: centage of US: of US Million bushels Million bushels Feed grains: Corn, grain : Oats : Bar ley : Sorghum grain and : pulses ]_/ : 3, , l, Food grains : Wheat : Rye : Buckwheat : Rice : 1, / , ,621 3,556 ll 1, , , :Million short tons Million short tons 4 feed grains : 4 food grains : _/ Total 8 grains : / l/ Crop Production op cit, p 41 2/ USDA estimate 3/ Sorghum grain for USj pulses for USSR _ 4/ only ~/ Excludes buckwheat in US = not available 11

12 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Washington, DC OFFICIAL BUSINESS POSTAGE AND FEES PAID US Department of Agriculture Table 10--Production of five major grains and total grain, Soviet Union, Year USDA estimates J/ Total grain ~/ Soviet official estimates 4/ 5 major grains ~/ : Soviet ~SDA ;= official est1mates - 3 : es t 1ma t es 4/ "' Ill ~/ Million metric tons ~/ / ~/ / ~55 l/ Wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn for grain, millet, buckwheat, rice, pulses 2/ Wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn for grain 3/ Usable grain 4/ Bunker weight, ie, as originally harvested, not dried or cleaned Strana sovetov op cit, p 133, unless otherwise noted 5/ Narodnoye khozyaystvo SSSR 1962 op cit, p 235 b/ Preliminary USDA estimates ]/'Pravda, January 25,