Grain prices soar, no letup in US drought

According to long-term weather forecasts made on Friday, extreme heat and drought conditions will continue to bake already scorched corn and soybean crops in the Midwest, the United States’ breadbasket, through early August, Reuters reported.

“It will be dry and very hot in the area with temperatures in the 100s (degrees Fahrenheit, or over 37.7 degrees Celsius) in St. Louis Sunday through Thursday, reaching 106 F (41 C) on Wednesday,” said Don Keeney, a meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather.

Extreme heat is also forecast for much of the central and western Midwest.

Climate experts said the US is experiencing the worst drought conditions since at least 1956.

On Thursday, grain prices rose to record highs in the US, which is the world’s biggest producer of corn and soybeans as well as a top food exporter.

Corn for September delivery at the Chicago Board of Trade hit a record high of $8.1675 a bushel, while soybeans for August delivery also set a record high of $17.49. The wheat price for September rose by 4 percent and set a four-year high at $9.35.

The effect of such high prices was already being felt around the world, where drought has also struck other grain exporters, who are beginning to cancel previous sales.

“A lot of buyers waited in the hope that rain in the US and east Europe would cool prices,” one grain exporter said. “But this is not happening and the US drought is not over.”

The drought began in the eastern and southern Midwest but has now spread to the central and western areas of the region, including the two main states of the US Corn Belt, Iowa and Illinois.

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