U.S. WHEAT GROUPS CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION All major grain producing countries must do their part to help reduce global surpluses and the recent Australian farm policy proposals are flawed, two U.S. wheat organizations said. The recent Australian proposals were a good starting point for discussions, "but we do not want the Australians to feel they are alone in developing an agenda for discussions" on world grain trade, the president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, NAWG, and the chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates said in a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng and U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter. Future discussions on international wheat trade should include three topics -- a commitment to privatization of government-run export trading entities, a commitment to public disclosure of sales and other terms if government entities are involved, and a recognition that supply reductions by the U.S. have kept world prices higher than they otherwise would be, the two organizations said While the Australian proposals are welcome the two organizations said they are not in total agreement with their assessments. Australia's proposals, which aim to reduce U.S. target prices and "quarantine" U.S. wheat stocks, would continue to place the burden of supply adjustment and reform on U.S. farmers, they said. Other countries, including Australia, have benefitted from the higher world prices that have resulted from past U.S. acreage and crop reduction programs, the organizations said. "We will not continue to hurt ourselves economically -- and subsidize foreign wheat production -- by unilaterally stocking grain and changing programs which protect our growers," Jim Miller, president of NAWG said. "We sincerely hope for some type of agreement among the world's major grain producing nations to reduce stocks and restore profitability to agriculture," Miller said.