Inside Report (6)
With or without new sales to the Soviets, US grain exports are controversial this year. Reagan administration teams have been visiting world capitals to promote grain purchases, trying to switch more foreigners to eating bread and hamburger. Reason: Bread sells wheat and hamburger sells feed grains for fattening overseas livestock.
Despite foreign sales, US farmers are likely to stay angry, saying the Reagan efforts are not enough. A bumper crop may be coming, based on a planting of 365 .5 million acres of grain, the most since 1944.
Loud protests also can be expected from experts concerned with world food shortages. They argue that massive US exports are undermining developing countries' efforts to feed themselves.m