Word: droughts
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Thanks to a drought-induced shortage of corn and grain, some of America's pigs and cows have had their diets "upgraded"-changed, anyway...
...chocolate-chip cookies. "Pigs love chocolate. They really do," says Robert Easter, an associate professor of animal science at the University of Illinois. The mash, however, causes the swine to stagger drunkenly a bit at first. Some farmers have used such products for years, especially in times of drought. But some animal nutritionists say the use of alternative feed, though not widespread at all, has become more attractive in these hard economic times. With proper dietary balancing, the experts say, the animals will get the nutrition they need and the meat flavor will not be affected perceptibly. Of course...
Some inflationary pressure, though, could begin coming from food prices. The worst drought since the 1930s has devastated many crops, while at the same time the Government's Payment-in-Kind program has encouraged farmers to leave some fields idle. The Agriculture Department said last week that this year's corn crop would be 48% smaller than last year's. The price of corn has already gone up about 60% since January, a surge that will eventually boost the cost of meat from corn-fed livestock. Schultze said that food prices would rise more than 5% next...
...history of Tahiti. Peruvian officials estimate that overheated ocean waters destroyed about one-half of that nation's normal commercial fishing catch. Winds, waves and storms smashed California beaches last winter, while Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, southern Africa and southern India all suffered from drought. "A year of natural catastrophe," says M. Peter McPherson, director of the U.S. International Development Cooperation Agency, which has provided $60 million in emergency aid to flooded Andean nations...
During the last month, Brazilians have been shocked by reports from the drought-stricken Northeast of starving families eating snakes, lizards and rats. "I have never seen the likes of this in my life," said Pontes Neto, a Red Cross official. "The children all have the same sickness, worms and chronic hunger." Shoeless looters roaming city streets have panicked retailers. All last week, heavy looting took place in Rio de Janeiro suburbs. In one wild afternoon, a mob of 400 sacked four grocery stores in the area, ripping down steel gratings and smashing windows. Says Security Guard Anzio Gomes Monteiro...