War and Grain Prices
I’m Bob Larson. The Russia-Ukraine war will severely challenge global grain production and is likely to worsen world hunger and poverty, according to agricultural experts and policymakers.
The war prevents planting, destroys ports and infrastructure, while sanctions and export controls impede Russian exports, creating a likely shortfall in global grain production, driving wheat, corn and oilseed prices sky-high.
India has offered to export more wheat, while producers in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Brazil and Argentina respond to higher prices, but Ag Senator Chuck Grassley says there’s just so much they can do …
GRASSLEY … “I don’t know how you make up 14-percent of the exports, or the production globally, coming out of Ukraine, but it’s a sizeable amount to make up. And I guess, I figure farmers plant pretty much, corn row to corn row, anyway.
And wheat is an even bigger problem, with Russia and Ukraine producing nearly 30-percent of world supply …
GRASSLEY … “Humanitarian groups, I read, have been very predictable of an increase in poverty, an increase in adequate nourishment, and so, people that follow world humanitarian food needs, are very worried.”
And if the war in Ukraine drags on, fertilizer prices rise more with sanctions against Russian natural gas, or drought in the U.S., Canada and Argentina worsen.
