WEBVTT 1 00:00:11.860 --> 00:00:13.260 You 2 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:30.080 You 3 00:01:19.660 --> 00:01:20.160 You 4 00:01:20.160 --> 00:01:26.160 Hi there I was uptown at the grocery store and bought this loaf of bread just like so many other people do every day 5 00:01:26.160 --> 00:01:32.520 You know the story behind being able to buy a loaf of bread any time of the year and already sliced is quite interesting and 6 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:37.300 Something people haven't always been able to do it starts with growing the wheat 7 00:01:37.300 --> 00:01:41.240 But I'm going to take you a way back before that to start my story 8 00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:49.360 Scientists are pretty certain that wheat began growing on this earth of ours in the area at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea in 9 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:56.720 Southwestern Asia and was cultivated by a primitive man long before the recording of any written records 10 00:01:56.720 --> 00:02:00.040 grains of wheat have been found in the remains of prehistoric 11 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:02.220 civilizations in the Swiss Lake region 12 00:02:02.220 --> 00:02:08.820 Dating back to the Stone Age and also in the tombs of the Pharaohs of Egypt more than five thousand years old 13 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:14.260 wheat was a principal food of the ancient Greeks and the Romans and 14 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:18.520 Because it required less time and effort to grow than most other foods 15 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:25.420 the peoples of these civilizations had more time to devote to enterprises other than to eke out of their existence and 16 00:02:26.140 --> 00:02:30.500 Therefore could advance faster and further in developing the arts and sciences 17 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:35.040 Here are some earthen jars that were used for storing flour in the homes 18 00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:41.300 The Chicago Natural History Museum was kind enough to loan these to me so I could bring them in and show them to you 19 00:02:41.300 --> 00:02:47.800 And here's something interesting this is an early camel bag that was used for transporting wheat 20 00:02:48.980 --> 00:02:52.820 Columbus brought the first wheat to America on his second trip in 21 00:02:52.820 --> 00:02:57.640 1493 and while this was superior wheat to that grown by the cavemen 22 00:02:57.640 --> 00:03:04.660 The greatest advances and improvements in the development of new strains of wheat have been within approximately the last 100 years 23 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:09.020 Through the work being done by the United States Department of Agriculture 24 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:15.980 And also many of the state agricultural colleges we now have better wheat that is more resistant to diseases 25 00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:18.660 Notice how tall this can to feed is? 26 00:03:19.720 --> 00:03:26.460 Compare it with this in an adjoining field that is badly affected with wheat mosaic one of the virus diseases 27 00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:32.540 The farmer also has to contend with various rusts and fungus diseases like this black smut 28 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:39.360 This picture shows the damage done by a late severe frost 29 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:49.620 Plant scientists are also striving to develop strong sturdy stems that will not blow over during storms 30 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:55.520 In ancient times wheat was planted and harvested by hand 31 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:02.600 But even today in some parts of the world the individual heads of wheat are still hand harvested and then threatened 32 00:04:02.600 --> 00:04:05.980 Under the hooves of camels, but for our story 33 00:04:05.980 --> 00:04:11.460 We're going out to the heart of the wheat belt where the most modern methods are used to raise wheat 34 00:04:13.980 --> 00:04:17.260 After plowing the ground is then disc 35 00:04:23.340 --> 00:04:24.540 Then harrowed 36 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:28.560 It is now ready to be planted 37 00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:33.240 Here is a modern seed drill that opens 16 rows at a time 38 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:38.200 Drops the right amount of seed in each row and covers them up again in one operation 39 00:04:38.940 --> 00:04:43.460 Now through the use of time-lapse photography which greatly speeds up the action 40 00:04:43.460 --> 00:04:48.900 We can see the wheat actually pushing up through the ground as it grows taller and taller 41 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:52.960 There are two principal types of wheat 42 00:04:52.960 --> 00:04:55.160 Spring wheat and winter wheat 43 00:04:55.160 --> 00:05:00.280 By far the greatest amount of wheat grown is winter wheat and is planted in the late summer 44 00:05:00.280 --> 00:05:06.960 It must go through a winter dormant period before it will head up the second year and produce kernels of wheat 45 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:13.720 Here is a single head of wheat and if you watch closely you will see the individual antlers appear 46 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:28.600 Here you can see the heads of wheat maturing and ripening to a golden color and ready for harvest 47 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:37.060 While this process is going on a tremendous amount of other work is also going on in anticipation of the coming harvest 48 00:05:43.380 --> 00:05:46.560 Here at Hutchinson, Kansas in the heart of the wheat area 49 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:49.940 You can see in the distance the large terminal grain elevators 50 00:05:49.940 --> 00:05:57.600 In the foreground you can see the railroad yards where thousands of boxcars are being made ready for the tremendous task of transporting the wheat 51 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:01.800 The Santa Fe Railway is the principal road serving this area 52 00:06:05.580 --> 00:06:10.880 Each car is separately cleaned out and carefully inspected to make certain that it is grain tight 53 00:06:10.880 --> 00:06:13.620 The cars are then checked by the car inspector 54 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:26.560 The first wheat has now matured and is ready for harvesting 55 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:30.180 The modern machines that do this work are called combines 56 00:06:30.180 --> 00:06:35.360 Because they combine four operations that used to be done separately into one job 57 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:43.680 This includes reaping, threshing, and all the work previously done in binding the wheat into bundles and stacking them in the fields 58 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.540 Picking them up again and bringing them to a station to be used as a machine 59 00:06:46.540 --> 00:06:47.880 This is a stationary threshing machine 60 00:06:50.220 --> 00:06:57.700 The straw is chopped up and scattered over the ground so that its plant food value and organic matter is returned to the soil 61 00:06:57.700 --> 00:07:01.900 No longer are a dozen men needed for the threshing operation alone 62 00:07:01.900 --> 00:07:05.240 And no longer the farmer's life one of toil and drudgery 63 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:09.400 The work of the womenfolk in the farm too is also greatly eased 64 00:07:09.400 --> 00:07:12.240 As no longer do the large work crews have to be fed 65 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:17.440 Nevertheless, a cool drink of water is greatly appreciated on a hot sunny afternoon 66 00:07:19.260 --> 00:07:23.400 Modern machinery like this has not only greatly eased the work on the farm 67 00:07:23.400 --> 00:07:26.800 But has also drastically affected the farm population 68 00:07:27.400 --> 00:07:32.580 Today it requires less than two working hours for a farmer to raise one acre of wheat 69 00:07:32.580 --> 00:07:37.240 Whereas a hundred years ago it would have taken over 50 hours of his time 70 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:44.380 The combine and other farm machinery has made it possible for one farmer to work many more acres 71 00:07:44.380 --> 00:07:48.400 And has brought about a present day large scale farm operation 72 00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:52.380 The combine has also greatly shortened the harvest period 73 00:07:52.380 --> 00:07:56.080 As the wheat is no longer shocked and left in the fields to cure 74 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:14.260 This tremendous present day wheat production has concurrently greatly increased the problems of transportation and storage facilities 75 00:08:14.260 --> 00:08:18.000 But to keep abreast of the developments in modern farm machinery 76 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.540 The Santa Fe Railway has not only 100% converted to diesel power 77 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:29.200 But has developed many other new and modern methods for more efficiently dispatching and handling freight shipments of all kinds 78 00:08:29.200 --> 00:08:31.920 I'm going to tell you more about this in just a minute 79 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:37.160 But right now let's follow our truckload of wheat right from the field to the nearby country elevator 80 00:08:37.160 --> 00:08:40.160 Where the farmer may take it for temporary storage 81 00:08:40.160 --> 00:08:43.920 On the other hand, he may sell it directly to the elevator operator 82 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.900 Some of these country elevators are operated as private business enterprises 83 00:08:48.900 --> 00:08:56.240 And others as cooperative enterprises entered into by the farmers in the immediate area which the grain elevator serves 84 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:00.740 In either case, the truck is weighed in with this load of wheat 85 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:06.740 Before it can be unloaded into the elevator, it must be carefully graded 86 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.880 First, the standard amount is measured and weighed 87 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:30.280 Next, it is tested for the moisture content 88 00:09:31.300 --> 00:09:36.720 If wheat has more than 14% moisture, it will heat and ferment in storage 89 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:44.860 As soon as the sample tests are completed, the truck drives into the elevator 90 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:45.860 The wheat is down to the ground and is then loaded into the elevator 91 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:45.860 92 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:51.280 It is pumped and goes through a grating in the floor and carried up into the elevator by means of conveyor belts 93 00:09:59.460 --> 00:10:02.860 The empty truck is then weighed out 94 00:10:10.060 --> 00:10:15.760 A receipt showing the amount of wheat, grade and moisture content is then given to the truck driver 95 00:10:15.760 --> 00:10:18.920 And he is off on his way back to the farm for another load 96 00:10:18.920 --> 00:10:26.620 One of our biggest and most serious farm problems facing us today is that of overproduction and shortage of storage facilities 97 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:32.840 Many farmers are having difficulty in finding grain elevators that are not already filled with the holdover load 98 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:35.440 The wheat has been over surplus from last year and the year before 99 00:10:36.520 --> 00:10:45.580 As an aid under the government price support program, the United States Department of Agriculture has erected many temporary steel bins for storing wheat and other grains 100 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:53.340 And during the past few years, a farmer has been able to borrow up to 90% of parity on his wheat that grades number 3 or better 101 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:57.060 This is frequently more than he can sell it for on the cash market 102 00:10:57.060 --> 00:11:05.420 The farmer has a period of time during which he may redeem his loan and sell his wheat on the cash market, should the market price go up meanwhile 103 00:11:05.420 --> 00:11:14.180 However, he is not obligated in any way to pay his loan and if he does not elect to do so, then the wheat merely becomes the government's property 104 00:11:14.180 --> 00:11:23.500 In spite of the acreage reductions imposed by the United States Department of Agriculture that farmers must agree to in order to qualify for price support benefits 105 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:27.400 There have been only nominal reductions in the number of bushels raised 106 00:11:27.400 --> 00:11:32.340 In other words, farmers have been able to raise many more bushels per acre 107 00:11:34.460 --> 00:11:42.360 In years gone by, surpluses were used up during periods of crop failure so that the old law of supply and demand was kept in balance 108 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:48.900 But today, crop failure seems more unlikely as new improved disease resistant varieties of wheat are developed 109 00:11:48.900 --> 00:11:52.800 More land is being irrigated and brought under flood control 110 00:11:52.800 --> 00:12:00.520 More knowledge is gained regarding the control of insect hordes and better farming practices and crop rotation are put into effect 111 00:12:00.520 --> 00:12:09.400 At any rate, approximately half of our total wheat production is being put under government loan and being added to our already existing surplus 112 00:12:27.780 --> 00:12:35.260 To help relieve this situation, many country elevators have greatly increased their storage facilities during the past few years 113 00:12:35.900 --> 00:12:40.100 Many more elevators are being constructed all the time, but not fast enough 114 00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:44.120 More metal bins are being erected throughout the entire grain belt 115 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:50.360 Here at Enid, Oklahoma is the world's largest grain elevator 116 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:55.120 It has facilities restoring 46,100,000 bushels 117 00:12:55.880 --> 00:13:00.120 In spite of all this construction, the wheat surplus keeps on piling up 118 00:13:01.280 --> 00:13:09.060 At St. Joseph, Missouri, a new method of storing wheat under canvas tarpaulins like great circus tents is being tested 119 00:13:09.060 --> 00:13:14.960 They are filled from the top, and as more wheat is put in, the canvas simply raises higher 120 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:22.760 When completely full, each of these canvas canopies will hold 1,300,000 bushels of wheat 121 00:13:26.040 --> 00:13:33.000 At the air base near Clinton, Oklahoma, the main hanger has been converted into a storage bin for surplus wheat 122 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:46.280 But this is not enough. It is not too uncommon a sight to see farmers having to dump their wheat in piles like this, out in the open, due to the lack of storage facilities 123 00:13:57.560 --> 00:14:04.280 Now let's go back to our country grain elevator again and see what happens to wheat that is actually sold on the market 124 00:14:04.280 --> 00:14:13.620 The operator of the country grain elevator may sell to one of the larger terminal elevator companies like the one we saw in the distance behind the railroad yards in Hutchinson 125 00:14:16.560 --> 00:14:25.960 Or call a grain brokerage firm and talk directly to a member trader right on the floor of the Kansas City Board of Trade, the largest winter wheat market in the world 126 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:39.980 But whether he sells first and then ships his wheat, or merely consigns the wheat to his broker in Kansas City for sale at the best market price after he gets there, he first calls the railroad for one or more boxcars to be spotted on the siding by the elevator 127 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:50.640 These cars are then fitted with special grain doors. This permits the regular doors to be opened for loading, unloading, and inspection of the grain 128 00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:04.420 A long flexible loading spout that you may have seen hanging on the side of grain elevators is then fixed into position 129 00:15:07.280 --> 00:15:12.380 The wheat comes down with such force that it is shot into the very far corners of the boxcar 130 00:15:12.380 --> 00:15:19.660 Most boxcars will hold from 16,000 to 21,000 bushels of wheat, depending on their size 131 00:15:19.660 --> 00:15:27.420 These cars are then picked up by the switch engines, one or two here, a couple more there, all throughout the wheat area 132 00:15:31.540 --> 00:15:39.640 Solid train loads of wheat arrive one after another at Santa Fe's Argentine Freight Yards just outside of Kansas City, Missouri 133 00:15:40.520 --> 00:15:44.220 Almost immediately the cars are opened by a grain inspector 134 00:15:49.300 --> 00:15:55.480 He uses a long probe, which takes samples of wheat at regular distances right down to the bottom of the car 135 00:15:55.480 --> 00:16:05.820 A sample of wheat is then taken from each car directly to the State Grain Inspection Department, which is conveniently located in the same building with the Kansas City Board of Trade 136 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:10.920 Here, each sample of wheat is carefully weighed 137 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:34.900 The grain is then inspected for poorly formed or diseased kernels and foreign material, such as weed seeds or wild garlic 138 00:16:39.020 --> 00:16:48.760 It then goes through a very rigid test to determine the protein content, which is an important factor taken into consideration in determining the final grade of the wheat 139 00:17:06.940 --> 00:17:14.160 All of this information is marked on a ticket. It is placed in a little paper tray together with a part of the actual sample of wheat 140 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:22.140 So the grain traders on the floor of the Board of Trade have all this information together with an actual sample for their own inspection 141 00:17:22.780 --> 00:17:29.340 Brokers representing food processors that wish a special type of wheat then may select just exactly what they want 142 00:17:29.340 --> 00:17:41.940 The broker is representing the farmers or country grain elevators, fed back and forth, shouting and using a regular sign language with the brokers who are buying for the food processors or others in the market for wheat 143 00:17:41.940 --> 00:17:52.840 As soon as they reach an agreement on the price, it is immediately marked up on the board so that every other broker can see what the latest sales price has been and how much grain was traded 144 00:17:52.840 --> 00:18:00.360 Each transaction is also immediately put on the wire and also marked up on the boards and brokerage offices throughout the country 145 00:18:01.100 --> 00:18:10.480 Anyone interested in either selling or buying wheat can readily find out what the latest market price has been by simply calling his broker in his own hometown 146 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:17.340 Many orders to buy or sell wheat or other grains also come in by teletype 147 00:18:17.340 --> 00:18:26.400 Instructions on where to deliver the wheat are received, as the buyer may want it delivered in any part of the country or loaded into ships for foreign export 148 00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:38.240 Now let's go back to the train load of wheat that came into the Argentine freight yards. It is slowly pushed over a hump 149 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:45.280 The cars are uncoupled and start rolling down the gradual incline 150 00:18:45.280 --> 00:18:55.840 The hump master, located in this office, and each retarder operator in the control towers have a list showing the number and contents of each car moved over the hump 151 00:18:55.840 --> 00:19:03.420 On a panel in front of each operator are a number of buttons and levers that operate the switches to 56 different tracks 152 00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:11.080 In addition, the levers operate the automatic car retarders to govern the speed of the cars as they move down the incline 153 00:19:11.080 --> 00:19:20.840 To do this properly, the operator must take into consideration the direction and velocity of the wind, the curvature of the track, and the distance the cars are to move 154 00:19:20.840 --> 00:19:27.500 So that neither the cars nor their contents will be damaged by bumping into other cars at high rates of speed 155 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:32.360 In this way, the cars are made up into trains for different destinations 156 00:19:32.360 --> 00:19:37.740 They are also arranged so that cars can be taken off the head end of a train along the way 157 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:46.060 And a long train will not have to be broken in the middle to drop just one car off at some town or junction along the main line 158 00:19:46.060 --> 00:19:54.920 This automatic method of switching cars has certainly been a big step in speeding up freight shipments, and typical of the progress that has paid its own way 159 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:45.720 When the cars are all classified on the different tracks and made up into trains, the road engine is coupled on 160 00:20:53.140 --> 00:21:11.460 Hello, Bob. We have five orders. 352, 304, 303, 302, 301, clearance card 364, OK 1246 PM. 161 00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:16.460 Then 228 and 30 seconds. 162 00:21:16.540 --> 00:21:18.660 I got 228 and 35 seconds. 163 00:21:19.020 --> 00:21:21.180 106 cars all through, ready to go. 164 00:21:21.280 --> 00:21:22.180 All right. 165 00:21:26.580 --> 00:21:35.220 The train now pulls out on the main line. Trains of 100 cars or more highball along at speeds up to 60 miles an hour 166 00:21:56.100 --> 00:22:07.580 Careful scheduling is necessary so as not to delay the fast screenliners like the Super Chief, El Capitan, or the Texas Chief, that still have the parade on time at its destination 167 00:22:26.600 --> 00:22:30.820 Here is a special wheat train crossing the mighty Mississippi River 168 00:22:43.100 --> 00:22:49.120 The engine reaches the Illinois side before the caboose leaves the Iowa side, more than a mile behind 169 00:23:30.080 --> 00:23:30.800 The train now pulls out on the main line. Trains of 100 cars or more highball along at speeds up to 60 miles an hour 170 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:44.120 When the cars reach their final destination, they are spotted on sightings or delivered right inside a building, as is the case here with the flour mill that purchased this carload of wheat 171 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:58.940 Here is another device that has simplified the unleashing of grain. It pushes the special grain door right in and removes it 172 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.820 The operator tilts the car sideways 173 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:15.700 Then, end for end, until all the wheat has been unloaded 174 00:24:58.360 --> 00:24:58.920 The train now pulls out on the main line. Trains of 100 cars or more highball along at speeds up to 60 miles an hour 175 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:23.320 The wheat pours out through a grill below. The wheat is then carried by conveyor belt to the storage elevator and from there to the individual machines that grind it into flour 176 00:25:41.560 --> 00:25:43.800 The sacks are then filled 177 00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:59.660 The final exact amount is carefully weighed out by automatic scales 178 00:26:02.320 --> 00:26:07.860 The sacks are then sewn up by machine and continue on their way by conveyor belt 179 00:26:24.300 --> 00:26:31.760 The flour may be shipped directly to your grocery store or to a bakery, which in turn bakes the flour into bread 180 00:26:39.360 --> 00:26:48.260 Well, you can see what an important part the railroads play in making it possible for you and me to buy a loaf of bread like this any time of the year 181 00:26:48.260 --> 00:26:52.640 Guess our time's up though, so hope you've enjoyed the story of wheat