The dictator acts in the face of a trade deficit, especially with the wheat-rich U.S., and a recent decline in Italian yields. The Fascist regime will tout his grain war relentlessly, issuing heroic posters of wheat, and Mussolini personally poses shirtless in the fields.
By the late 1930s Mussolini declares victory— Italian wheat production has soared and imports are steeply down. His claim neglects that by devoting so many resources to grain, production of other Italian staples such as wine, fruit, cheese and meat has sharply fallen.