Adjusting Wheat Acreage in the Northern Great Plains to Changes in Demand

The principal objectives of this study are to provide a land use analysis that will serve as a guide for adjusting the acreage of wheat to meet the increasing demands for food and to indicate the elements of a program to facilitate the necessary adjustments. The greater part of the analysis deals with the situation within the Plains with the principal emphasis on the economic phases of land utilization. Since the Plains wheat producer is dependent on outside demand for his product, the supply and demand situation in the world and in the United States are presented. The place of the United States in the world picture form the basis for an estimate of the acreage of wheat that will be needed. The demand for wheat is then related to the possibilities and limitations of the Plains. Data for the world and United States wheat situation are mostly from published sources. For the Plains, data were collected from published and unpublished records in state offices of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and state-federal statisticians of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. The analysis of so large a region required the delineation of large areas and the elimination of much information that was too detailed to be presented without confusion. The purpose is to show leading tendencies by areas with the full realization that considerable variation exists within any area. The viewpoint is regional and necessarily requires the broad consideration of important factors over a wide area. Advisor: H. C. Fille