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Cotton, wheat, rice, and now corn. If revised Chinese import estimates by the US Grain Council are even remotely correct, look for corn prices of $6.80 a bushel at last check to jump by at least 15% in a very short amount of time. As the FT reports, "Corn prices – and with them, the price of meat – are set to explode if the latest import estimates from China are correct. The US Grain Council, the industry body, said late on Thursday that it has received information pointing to Chinese imports as high as 9m tonnes in 2011-12, up...

Hearing date is Aug. 11 for Pavlovsk Fruit Collection case; Russian government called on to interveneST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (7 August 2010)—As the fate of Europe's largest collection of fruit and berries hangs in the balance of a Russian court decision, the Global Crop Diversity Trust issued an urgent appeal for the Russian government to embrace its heroic tradition as protector of the world's crop diversity and halt the planned destruction of an incredibly valuable crop collection near St. Petersburg. Pavlovsk Experiment Station is the largest European field genebank for fruits and berries, and is part of the N.I. Vavilov Research...

MOSCOW, July 16 (Reuters) - Soaring temperatures across large swathes of Russia have destroyed nearly 10 million hectares of crops and prompted a state of emergency to be declared in 17 regions.

Russia, the world's third wheat exporter, Thursday banned grain exports for the next four-and-a-half months due to a record drought that has destroyed millions of hectares (acres) of its land. Wheat futures shot up to new two-year highs on commodities markets after the sudden announcement from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin raised concerns about global grain supplies

Fears of food inflation and tighter global supply make China and India, holders of nearly half the world's wheat reserves, reluctant to send large volumes to market despite surging prices that offer a huge opportunity. The world's most populous nations, China and India are estimated to finish the 2010/11 crop year with a combined stockpile of around 78 million tonnes, 44 percent of the world total of 175 million, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. But they will probably defend that stockpile in the face of rising consumption. "I don't think China will be an exporter because of increasing domestic...

The Food Shock Of 2011 By Addison Wiggin 10/26/10 Baltimore, Maryland – Every month, JP Morgan Chase dispatches a researcher to several supermarkets in Virginia. The task – to comparison shop for 31 items. In July, the firm’s personal shopper came back with a stunning report: Wal-Mart had raised its prices 5.8% during the previous month. More significantly, its prices were approaching the levels of competing stores run by Kroger and Safeway. The “low-price leader” still holds its title, but by a noticeably slimmer margin. Within this tale lie several lessons you can put to work to make money. And...

JANUARY 13, 2011 Prices Soar on Crop Woes U.S. Cuts Global Grain Supply Outlook; Higher Prices Expected at Grocery Stores. By SCOTT KILMAN And LIAM PLEVEN Evidence of tightening global food supplies grew as the U.S. Agriculture Department cut its estimates for global harvests of key crops and raised some demand forecasts, adding to worries about rising food prices. Prices of corn and soybeans leapt 4% Wednesday and wheat gained 1%, continuing the broad rally in commodity prices that began in June. With yesterday's gains, prices of corn futures contracts are now up 94% from their June lows; soybeans are...

Evidence of tightening global food supplies grew as the U.S. Agriculture Department cut its estimates for global harvests of key crops and raised some demand forecasts, adding to worries about rising food prices. Prices of corn and soybeans leapt 4% Wednesday and wheat gained 1%, continuing the broad rally in commodity prices that began in June. With yesterday's gains, prices of corn futures contracts are now up 94% from their June lows; soybeans are up 51% and wheat is up 80%. The USDA's revisions reflect the impact of dry weather in South America and floods in Australia, which have compounded...

The craziest part of the uprising in Egypt is how it caught us all by surprise. After all, it was predicted — three years ago. Unfortunately, nobody was paying attention. It sounded too weird. The warnings weren’t coming from political analysts, but from climate and crop experts. Which means — what? Climate topples dictator? No way, right? Way. Let’s walk through it. Consider those warnings in the spring of 2008. It was a time of worldwide food shortages. Wheat prices had doubled from the year before, and other crops weren’t far behind. Hunger became critical, and riots exploded from Bangladesh...

Ethanol has proven to be an inadequate solution to the problem of foreign oil, but it has toppled at least one Arab ruler and may not be done yet. The Soros backed college students and the Islamists have done their part in the protests, but the Tunisian and Egyptian mobs would never have made their showing without a goad. And the goad was high wheat prices. Part of the spike in wheat prices was due to the shift to ethanol production. Remember when Americans were lining up with cans of gasoline during the OPEC oil boycott? Arab Muslims are now...

China Drought Global Food Crisis To Trigger Many More Egypts Commodities / Food Crisis Feb 10, 2011 - 06:14 AM By: Justin John The Chinese government has reportedly decided to spend $1 billion to battle the drought plaguing huge areas in the north, as wheat prices continued their climb and the UN warned of serious consequences for the winter harvest. The drought is the worst in six decades in many areas, and has left a swathe of grain-producing regions reeling from a lack of any significant rainfall in more than three months. The money will be spent to divert water...

The worst locust plague in more than two decades is threatening to strike Australia, the world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter, after rainfall boosted egg-laying by the insects in major crop growing regions.

A severe drought in China is threatening the country's wheat crop and could affect global grain prices, the U.N. food agency warned. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, in a special alert on China, said the drought is "potentially a serious problem." The drought, which has been dragging on for four months, has affected 35.1 percent -- 15.8 million acres -- of China's wheat crop, China's Ministry of Agriculture announced this week. FAO said 2.57 million people and 2.79 million head of livestock faced shortages of drinking water. Chinese state-run news said that China's key agricultural regions were facing...