Posted by Tina
Agflation is what they’re calling it and according to some folks it means higher food prices are on the way…a CS Monitor blogger, Joshua M. Brown excerpts information from various sources:
“‘Shocking’ corn prices: the other rising gold market” – CS Monitor
Keep obsessing over gold, but the real explosion is happening in the agricultural commodity complex. Food prices around the world are exploding. Farmer Brown has been discussing the Agflation theme here since the summer. It’s happening… ** “Shocking!” That is the term used by some grain traders just after the release of the USDA’s yield estimate for this year’s U.S. Corn crop. The USDA projected 155.8 bushels per acre yield, which is well below the 162.5 bushels per acre projected in the September crop report. ** Meat prices are poised to extend a 14 percent rally this year that drove U.S. retail costs to the highest levels since the 1980s as surging corn futures prevent livestock producers from expanding their herds. ** As the world markets opened at 8:00pm est, a shocking thing happened to food commodities. As a whole, futures contracts jumped nearly 9% in an instant on the world markets
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We knew this would happen…inflation is an evil that will punish everyone and rob working Americans of more of their hard earned cash.
Keynesian policies and forced “alternatives” just do not work! BIG government does not work. We must rid ourselves of the incompetence and extremism that creates such unnecessary misery!
Vote wisely Pilgrims.
When we started raising corn for fuel rising prices everywhere was predicted, but Political correctness prevailed.
Tina,
I am surprised you posted this article because it makes you look bad. You really should do a bit more research before you expose your bias.
The corn yield is down for climatic reasons, not political ones. Here is a clip from wallacesfarmer.com
“With the hot weather this summer, growing degree day accumulation has been running ahead of normal since early July, says Elwynn Taylor, Iowa State University Extension climatologist. That’s been a negative factor on yields.”
“With growing degree days running ahead of normal since the first of July, that has advanced the crop growth and shortened the time available for the crop to reach maturity,” says Taylor. “A lot of farmers tell me this year’s corn crop is racing toward maturity–it’s going faster than they’ve ever seen it mature in a year when we didn’t have a drought. Well, they are exactly right. That’s because crop maturity this summer was advanced by the warmer than normal nights we had. The crop matures faster in those types of growing conditions. What it means is there are fewer days for the corn kernels to gain weight, and that does cost you some yield potential. You end up getting less yield per acre.”
Like I have been telling you, higher temperatures lead lead to falling crop yields.
Welcome to climate change.
And thanks for making my point.
: )
Mark: “The corn yield is down for climatic reasons, not political ones.”
Corn yield is effected by weather in any given year and farmers are well aware of the challenges presented by changing weather conditions. What you describe is a weather condition; it is only your opinion that the current change is a result of AGW.
It is a lie that the price of corn has not been effected by politics. I have excerted from several articles all found at the following URL:
http://www.wikinvest.com/wikinvest/api.php?action=viewNews&aid=1915368&page=Commodity%3ACorn&comments=1&format=html
Clearly action taken to force ethanol production as well as the policies that forced the housing meltdown, lack of government oversight of lenders and monetary policy are all having an impact on corn prices.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to expand my thoughts.
Even better than corn is saw grass, more yeild and more ethanol per acre! Saw grass is the way to go, but the corn lobby is in the way.
I would like to see nuclear energy plants, once going much cheaper and cleaner.