U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman has announced two new measures to help bolster U.S. wheat and other agricultural commodities to Turkey and Indonesia. Glickman further announced that the department's guarantees will cover freight costs for sales of wheat and other designated commodities to Indonesia.
Turkey is an important market for U.S. farmers.
Glickman also announced that freight coverage is now available for sales of wheat and other designated commodities to Indonesia under USDA's previously announced GSM-102 program for that country. This is the largest P.L. 480, Title I, purchase of U.S. wheat so far in fiscal 1998. For the first 6 months of fiscal 1998, Jordan's total wheat purchases from the United States have more than doubled in value, compared with purchases during the same period last year. Wheat prices have weakened in the last several months as world wheat demand continued to soften and competition remained intense.