美国国家公共电台 NPR--Despite high prices for wheat, farmers in Montana are pessimistic

Despite high prices for wheat, farmers in Montana are pessimistic

Transcript¹

As Russia's war in Ukraine has dragged on, the price of wheat has skyrocketed. U.S. farmers are looking to capitalize on the crop, but drought and inflation are complicating² the possibility.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The war in Ukraine is disrupting about a third of the global wheat supply. So farmers elsewhere who can bring in a good wheat crop this year will likely get record prices. But for farmers in Montana, one of the top five wheat-producing states in the U.S., a persistent³ drought and high inflation have brought only pessimism⁴. Yellowstone Public Radio's Olivia Weitz reports.

OLIVIA WEITZ, BYLINE⁵: Nathan Keane (ph) pilots his tractor across wheat fields that stretch as far as the sky above. When a little sprinkle of rain blows through, enough to turn on the windshield wipers, his chapped lips curve into a smile.

NATHAN KEANE: Just to have raindrops on the window is nice to see. Even though it's not much, it's just nice to see water.

WEITZ: Usually, this whole field would be green by now with wheat Keane planted in the fall.

KEANE: Yep, if you grab that - there you go.

WEITZ: But this year, there are a lot of brown, dry patches. He hops⁶ out of his tractor and digs into the soil.

KEANE: See if I can find any kernels⁷ here.

WEITZ: Eight months after planting, the seeds haven't yet come out of the ground.

KEANE: We've been finding, you know, in these droughted out areas of just some wheat that never germinated⁸.

WEITZ: As a dry land farmer, Keane relies entirely⁹ on rainfall to water his crops. Planting into dry soil last fall, during the worst drought Montana has seen in decades, he took a chance.

KEANE: You hear jokes - you know, the biggest gamblers are farmers, you know, because we do. We risk so much. We put so much money in the ground. And we have next to no control.

WEITZ: Now he's rolling the dice¹⁰ on planting spring wheat where his previous crop failed. That means burning more diesel¹¹ in his tractor, though. The price of a gallon has doubled since last fall.

KEANE: So now it's just going through all of the areas in this field that look pretty weak, where there's no stand at all or it's just really patchy stand, to put some seeds in the ground and hope they come up. I don't know.

WEITZ: The fertilizer he applied¹² to the failed crop in the fall will still work on what he's planting now. That helps when fertilizer prices are going up faster than diesel. Vince Smith, an economics professor at Montana State University, says that's due to high energy prices and global demand.

VINCE SMITH: We're definitely looking at a fertilizer bill that's between double and a little bit more than double what would have been the case last year.

WEITZ: But the same thing driving up the cost of what Keane needs to grow wheat is also driving wheat prices sky high.

SMITH: Wheat prices are at record levels right now, upwards¹³ of 11 or $12 a bushel.

WEITZ: While conditions on the ground vary from farm to farm, Professor Smith says it won't take a bumper¹⁴ crop for Montana farmers to make a buck¹⁵.

SMITH: The much higher prices they can expect to receive for the crops they expect to produce, in fact, more than offset¹⁶ any increase in their variable cost of production.

WEITZ: But that assumes farmers like Nathan Keane, who have no irrigation, will get a break from what's now the second year of Montana's drought.

KEANE: Our crops can survive and produce OK if we get rains at the right time. But worst-case scenario¹⁷ is it stays the way it has been, where we're just not getting anything. We're getting - we're measuring our rainfalls currently in hundreds.

WEITZ: Farmers in Montana are taking a gamble this year. Keane is hopeful he'll get back more than what he put in. For NPR News, I'm Olivia Weitz in Bozeman, Mont.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

3 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

4 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 hops   

跳上[下]( hop的第三人称单数 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• The sparrow crossed the lawn in a series of hops. 那麻雀一蹦一跳地穿过草坪。
• It is brewed from malt and hops. 它用麦精和蛇麻草酿成。

7 kernels   

谷粒( kernel的名词复数 )； 仁； 核； 要点

参考例句：

• These stones contain kernels. 这些核中有仁。
• Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。

8 germinated   

v.（使）发芽( germinate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• First, the researchers germinated the seeds. 研究人员首先让种子发芽。 来自辞典例句
• In spring they are germinated and grown for a year in beds. 春季里，他们在苗床发芽并生长一年。 来自辞典例句

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

11 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

14 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

15 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

16 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

17 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。