You can't plant seed in a flooded field in the mid-West
Flooding has resulted in loss and a reduction of livestock.
Last known, there was a virus affecting Chinese pork production
All of these factors put a hurting on farmers and food production, which may result in higher prices.
Plan accordingly...
Check out some of the posted comments !
I have three planting beds in my yard that I use. I live on a steep slope in the Colorado Rockies at 8.500 ft elevation. I had to use rocks to build walls on the downhill sides of the beds to form terraces, My three terraces are always expanding, but that is what they are this year. I am still experimenting, but potatoes have always done well. I have quit things that never grow and put potatoes in their place. This year I have four varieties: Pontiac Red. Yukon Gold, Superior white, Russett. I should get 10’s of pounds of potatoes. I kept the Pontiac Red and Yukon Gold going for several years storing over winter, but had work interruptions until the ground froze and ended the run.
I have been growing the White Superior for three years and have saved seed potatoes successfully over winter. The Red Pontiac and Yukon Gold usually saved as well. I plan to be better when I dig potatoes this year and will store some of each including the Russett that I am growing for the first time and is supposed to store very well.
I will have 100’s of pounds of potatoes and am looking into Ball canning except for those I keep for seed for next year.
I also grow other things like peppers, tomatoes, turnips, rutabagas and summer squash. Am expanding growing areas and evaluating what grows well with our short summer and soil conditons.
is Chinese pork imported to the US? Is that why it is so inexpensive in the stores?
Pork is the source of the flu virus worldwide isn’t it?
It cracks me up when the city-dwellers bloviate on conditions out on the farm. Burning food, they say. lolol
We live on high ground here in Central Missouri, so we don't have to deal with the flooding that occurs in the river bottoms. What we did have this time was a long, cold winter, followed by a cold, wet spring. The rainfall has been plentiful, and spaced out such that it has made getting into the field difficult for the guys who are scratching dirt. Just about the time it's dry enough to work the soil we get more rain. Neighbor guy finally got his corn in the ground over the weekend. He started on Saturday and didn't stop until the entire 150 acres was done on Sunday. Then it rained on Monday, and again yesterday, and it's probably going to rain again tomorrow.
I'm pretty sure none of us are going to starve because of it. I don't know a single person that lives on corn.
Add the loss of carryover stock in Nebraska. It is going to be an interesting year.