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World Food Prices To Skyrocket

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In Wake Of USA Flooding

Whispers of Food Rationing!

 

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Consumers were warned to expect even sharper increases in global food prices after US officials said that some of the country’s best farmland was facing its worst flooding for 15 years. Agriculture officials and traders said the damage could push up worldwide corn and soyabean prices, which have spiralled in recent days as floods have swamped crops in parts of Iowa, the US’s biggest corn-producing state.

The warning comes at a time when high food prices are already sparking protests across the developing world. Corn futures in Chicago this week rose to record highs of more than $8 a bushel on fears that up to 5m acres of the crop could be lost, while soyabean prices hit a record of $15.93 a bushel.

Tom Jennings, acting director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said: “The price of corn and the price of beans could rise more. If we lose a lot of corn the prices will continue to go up.”

The worst of the flooding may be yet to come. Those flooding waters in Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Missouri as well as Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana have yet to make their way to the Mississippi River. There is a growing sense of concern that the Mississippi might experience the worst flooding ever, even worse than the historic record floods of 1993 and 1995 which devastated much of the Mississippi River Valley region. There is reason for optimism, however. Since those historic floods, The US Army Corps of Engineers has engaged in new flood control projects which may help to minimize damage with this year's flooding prospects.

What is perhaps more ominous - is talk of the need to ration food. Yes, food rationing talk is beginning to make its way into the mainstream news media. The Financial Times of London stated:

Lewis Hagedorn, of JPMorgan in Chicago, said that the losses were significant. “The risk of still-higher agricultural prices remains decisively distributed to the upside amid the fundamental need to ration demand in light of smaller supply,” he said."

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