Word: droughts
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...home team is losing. But when drops started falling in Kansas City last week as the Royals tried to catch the Chicago White Sox, 23,000 fans let out a rousing cheer. No wonder they were delighted to get wet. Missouri is deep in the heart of drought country: some 80% of its corn crop and more than 60% of its soybeans are in poor-to-very-poor condition. In Chicago the news that scattered showers were sprinkling the blistered Plains and Midwest created a near panic in the commodity pits as traders rushed to retreat from the sky-high...
...showers were far from enough to break what meteorologists describe as the most devastating dry spell in 50 years. If the drought stretches through the summer, its economic effects could prove as far-reaching as a cloudless Montana sky. Any sizable increase in inflation is still remote, but a persistent drought could bring higher prices for products ranging from cherries to Christmas trees, breakfast cereal to beer. While farmers fortunate enough to have a healthy crop will enjoy the windfall of higher prices this year, the shriveled overall yield could reduce U.S. agricultural exports in the long run by losing...
...everything from cattle feed to margarine, and the crop is severely threatened. If below-average rainfall persists through mid-July, when the plants are pollinated, up to half of the crops could be lost. The sale of stockpiled crops from previous years will mitigate the effects of the drought, but rising corn prices are already putting pressure on cereal makers. General Mills last month boosted the retail prices of its breakfast brands 5%. Kraft is charging 8% more for its soybean oil-based margarine...
...winter-wheat harvest escaped the effects of the drought. But the spring- wheat crop in a belt from Montana to Minnesota, which accounts for one- fourth of the year's total harvest, may amount to only 250 million bu. That is less than half of last year's level. Result: consumers are likely to pay higher prices for pasta, much of which is made from the northern durum wheat. Should the drought persist through the summer, the same will hold true for soybean- based foods, which range from trendy tofu to salad dressing...
...drought is likely to send meat prices down at first, then higher next year. Many ranchers cannot afford the corn and soybean meal to feed their herds. At the same time, much of the pastureland their cows normally graze has been scorched. As a result, ranchers are slaughtering many more of their cattle than usual. As the meat comes to market, retail prices for beef and pork should decline for the next few months. But by next spring the herds will be reduced, and prices are likely to increase as much as 10% from their current levels. The calf herd...