Global Impact of The Drought
While most of us have compassion for the drought stricken mid and southwest few understand the impact can have even globally. I’m Susan allen stay tuned for the story on today’s Open Range. If the drought continues as projected not only will you and I feel it in our wallets, third world countries dependant on corn, wheat and soybeans will suffer as well. It is easy to forget that what occurs (or doesn’t) on the ground in the farm belt and Texas takes at the very least a minimum of six months to make it to the retail level, the sticker price we see at the supermarket. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently reported that they’re forecasting higher than average temperatures for most of the nation for August and sadly below average precipitation for drought regions. Economist vary on how that will affect the consumer price index . Food prices now account for 14.2 percent and rose 2.7 percent last year due to the higher cost of meat, fruit and veggies. Not all aspects of the drought make food prices go up at least short term . Lack of pasture and higher feed prices mean many ranchers are actually liquidating their herds, selling animals before they reach their optimum weight, causing meat prices to drop periodically.. The price go back up when the supply of beef become below demand. Africa stands to suffer from our drought because they are on the receiving end of our corn,soybeans and wheat.The US being the largest exporter of those products.
