LOCALIZE IT: Ideas for local coverage of wartime agriculture

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

The war in Ukraine — a nation nicknamed “the breadbasket of the world” — isn't just imperiling Europe's food supply. It's buffeting commodity markets in the U.S. and threatening to affect agriculture from Donetsk to Des Moines.

Ukraine and Russia account for a third of global wheat and barley exports, which countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa rely on to feed millions of people who subsist on subsidized bread and bargain noodles. They're also top exporters of other grains and sunflower seed oil used for cooking and food processing. And Russia is also the world's biggest exporter of fertilizer — something that Western sanctions against Moscow are sure to impede.

American farmers already are operating on razor-thin profit margins as the agriculture sector emerges from two years of pandemic-related supply chain challenges and copes with rising fuel costs. Now, as they prepare their fields for spring planting, they may be about to reap more complications as some weigh whether to help fill the grain gap by swapping crops.

Here are some ways to localize reporting on how Russia's distant war in Ukraine is affecting U.S. farmers and commodities markets. Local stories could run alongside the AP story EU—Russia-Ukraine-War and other spot coverage:

HOW CAN AMERICAN FARMERS HELP?

Ukraine's distinctive blue and yellow flag, representing the sky over wheat fields, captures its pivotal role in the world's food supply.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told The Associated Press last month, just before Russia invaded, that American wheat farmers will boost production and prevent supply chain problems if the war in Ukraine chokes off agricultural exports.

Some of the best options for exploring what nearby farmers plan to do would be university extension offices, state Farm Bureaus, state National Farmers Union members (typically more progressive and often smaller farms), and trade groups such as state wheat growers and corn growers. State agriculture departments also can help.

You can find a list of all state farm bureaus at https://www.fb.org/about/join.

Consider talking to owners of fertilizer and sunflower oil plants that may be seeing a big change in their business operations with product from Russia and Ukraine now cut off.

OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES

Local journalists can go to this USDA site — https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/smgr0921.pdf — to understand the number of acres and amount harvested of wheat and other small grains in their state. Additional agricultural information broken down by state is available at https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State /.

To learn how acreage and yield of different crops have changed over time, go to https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/index.php.

For an overview on national wheat production, click on https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/wheat/. And for a breakdown of different kinds of wheat and the top states for those varieties, go to https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/grains-oilseeds/wheat.

INSIGHT FROM FARMERS

Questions to ask farmers in your area:

— Are you in a position to plant for a surplus that could be sold to Europe? If there are obstacles to doing that, what might those be?

— How difficult is it to grow an alternative crop? That is, if you typically grow corn or soybeans, can you easily switch to growing wheat? Do you have the right equipment and expertise to grow the alternative crop?

— Are you hesitant to disrupt your normal rotation of crops to grow wheat? What are the challenges/risks in doing so?

— How do drought and fertilizer cost concerns factor into decisions about what crops you grow, as some require more moisture and some require more fertilizer than others?

— Given the high cost of fertilizer, have you decided to take farmland out of production and seek payment through the Conservation Reserve Program?

LOCALIZING COMMODITY MARKETS

Prices of wheat and other commodities famously fluctuate, but even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, world markets were seeing some of the highest prices in years for wheat.

To track changing commodity prices, go to https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/agriculture.html#overview.

Questions to ask farmers and agriculture officials:

— Even as prices for wheat have soared, the prices paid for corn and soybeans also have increased significantly. Is it less likely that farmers will switch to wheat when their traditional crops also should be profitable?

— All farmers like rising prices, but how does the recent volatility and lack of certainty about the future complicate your planting plans?

— What do farmers think the federal government should do at this tumultuous time to ensure growers can meet the soaring demand for their crops?

— A big share of grain produced by U.S. farmers goes to feed livestock. Could these rising prices cause high meat prices to soar even higher?

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Emotions are running high as Americans bear witness to the exodus of more than 3.5 million Ukrainians — mostly women and children — who have fled their homeland amid horrific scenes of fighting and indiscriminate Russian shelling.

Farmers are no exceptions, so consider asking them how they feel about the conflict and whether they see agriculture as a way to show solidarity — not just with Ukraine but with other nations that are heavily dependent on Ukrainian wheat.

Questions to ask:

— At times of global crisis, are there ways in which you've come to see growing crops as an act of goodness, or even patriotism?

— Do you feel a sense of kinship with farmers in other countries? Are you talking with other farmers in your area about ways you can help your counterparts in Ukraine?

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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Bill Kole at bkole@ap.org or Ted Anthony at tanthony@ap.org.