“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure (G5518) of wheat for a penny (G1220), and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (Rev. 6:5-6) [See Missing Links – Appendix VI in main menu.]
*G1220 – δηνάριον – a denarius (or ten asses). Derivation: of Latin origin; KJV Usage: pence, penny(-worth).
A Roman silver coin in NT time. It took its name from it being equal to ten “asses”, a number after 217 B.C. increased to sixteen (about 3.898 grams or .1375 oz.). It was the principal silver coin of the Roman empire. From the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, it would seem that a denarius was then the ordinary pay for a day’s wages. (Mt. 20:2-13)
New Testament Monies: 1-Denarius (1 days Wage) = 16 copper coins (1/16th day’s wage) = 64 Quadrans (1/64th day’s wage) = 128 mites (1/128th day’s wage).
*G5518 – χοῖνιξ – a chœnix or certain dry measure. Derivation: of uncertain derivation; KJV Usage: measure.
A choenix, a dry measure, containing four cotylae or two setarii (less than our quart, one litre) (or as much as would support a man of moderate appetite for a day).
Whether ground or whole, I don’t know, but the weight would be the same. On average it takes about 3.25 cups or 770.25 ml flour (1 cup = 237 ml) to make a loaf of bread. Homemade that is! That leaves 229.75 ml or a little less than a cup. Maybe enough for a couple of biscuits! One can take two slices of bread and make a wish sandwich, wishing there was something to go in-between.
When one buys bread from the stores already baked, they would have to add the bakery costs plus profit for the baker and the post bakery supply chain costs to the loaf, plus the store mark-up and sales tax.
In 1964 at age 14, I cropped tobacco for .50 cents an hour at 12-hour days, which made me $6.00 a day, A loaf of quality bread was .90 cents to $1.00, depending on bakery and size loaf. That was 1/6th of my day’s wage or no more than 2 hours work. Of course, that was farm labor during summers and not under minimum wage law. I got .75 cents an hour the next summer. In the year 1965, the United States minimum wage was $1.25. This is equivalent to $10.44 in 2021 dollars. It was always much cheaper to buy the flour and other bread baking ingredients and make your own.
From: https://www.world-grain.com/articles/16941-food-supply-expert-paints-grim-global-picture
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, US — Global wheat inventories currently stand at about 10 weeks of global consumption, a food supply expert said during a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council on May 19.
Sara Menker, chief executive officer of Gro Intelligence, an organization that gathers and analyzes global food and agricultural data, said she disputes official government agency estimates that put global wheat inventories at 33% of annual consumption, countering inventories are closer to 20%.
“It is important to note that the lowest grain inventory levels the world has ever seen are now occurring while access to fertilizers is highly constrained, and drought in wheat growing regions around the world is the most extreme it’s been in over 20 years,” Menker said. “Similar inventory concerns also apply to corn and other grains. Government estimates are not adding up.”
Menker told the security council that while much of the blame for the burgeoning food security crisis has focused on the Russia-Ukraine war that has severely limited agricultural exports from that region, it has merely “added fuel to a fire that was long burning.” [Click to continue.]
From: https://www.world-grain.com/articles/16905-india-bans-most-wheat-exports
NEW DELHI, INDIA – India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced a ban on most wheat exports from the country on May 14. The announcement was expected to push global prices higher.
Wheat may only be shipped from the country for two reasons — where there is an arrangement involving an irrevocable letter of credit that was issued before the date of the ban and with permission granted by the government of India to other countries to meet their food security needs.
The Indian government on May 4 revised its wheat production forecast lower to 105 million tonnes for the 2022-23 marketing year as a heatwave damaged the crop during final stages of maturation. With the smaller crop expected, the government said it is considering restricting wheat exports. Earlier this year, the country projected a record crop of 111 million tonnes, which would have been the seventh straight year of record output. India is the world’s second largest wheat producer trailing only China.
The global wheat supply has been declining due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which account for nearly one-third of global wheat exports, as well as lower output projected due to weather in places like the United States and India.
The US Department of Agriculture estimated that global wheat ending stocks will fall to 278 million tonnes in 2021-22, the lowest level since 2016-17.
While the decision to restrict wheat exports may help curb domestic prices and assure an adequate supply for its people, it could damage India’s reputation as a reliable supplier for the global market. In April, government officials had announced plans to export a record 10 million tonnes of wheat in 2022-23. [Click to continue.]
{Did India learn something from the Trump years? Plans can change! Will the US export its current inventories while there is an expected lower yield in the 2022 harvest just getting underway? Click embed for answer!}
From: https://www.world-grain.com/articles/16899-us-winter-wheat-production-down-8-in-2022
WASHINGTON, DC, US — In the first survey-based projection of the 2022 crop, the US Department of Agriculture in its May 12 Crop Production report forecast winter wheat production in 2022 at 1.173 billion bushels, down 103.818 million, or 8%, from 1.277 billion bushels in 2021.
The USDA winter wheat forecast was based on harvested area projected at 24.499 million acres, down 965,000 acres, or 4%, from 25.464 million acres in 2021, and an average yield forecast of 47.9 bushels an acre, down from 50.2 bushels an acre in 2021.
Projected US winter wheat abandonment in 2022 of 28%, if realized, would be the highest since 2002, the USDA said, and factors in dry conditions in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
The USDA forecast hard red winter wheat production in 2022 at 590.037 million bushels, down 21% from 749.489 million bushels in 2021. [Click to continue.]
From: https://www.plainsgrains.org/ {Use this site for harvest updates as the harvest season progresses.}
5/27/2022: The 2022 HRW harvest is now underway, but slowed due to rain in Texas and southern Oklahoma. There continue to be only limited field actually harvested with little information available at this point as to yield or quality. Projections out of those areas are harvest will be in full swing early next week.
Wheat harvest is underway and will soon start here in eastern NC as the wheat heads are full and golden, but rain has delayed the harvest. Those big combines can easily get stuck. Excessive rain during the time of a wheat harvest causing delays while wheat is dried out and ready can cause molding to germination in the wheat heads and drastically reduce quality or ruin entire crop. It isn’t as much of a problem with local wheat because it is all used for animal feed to stretch out the corn from season to season; however, it is deadly serious with the Red Hard Wheat (RHW) which is mainly grown in the wheat belt and used for milling flour to make bread!
Can India be blamed for wanting to feed its own people first? They saw a shortage in harvest and held back all new exports. The USA’s exports for 2021 were the highest ever and we’re still exporting like crazy. Hasn’t anybody been thinking like Joseph? Let’s not forget that the red horse is friends with the black horse as well as the white horse. What kind of violence and/anarchy can be expected when there is no bread on the shelves? Will WW III end up being over wheat?
Come out of Babylon for her judgement is near!
LOLGB+
The Ezekiel 33 Watchman Report 
2 Comments