FAO sees record world food prices staying

The demand for bio-fuels in Europe and the United States will also continue to pressure prices of maize and soya.
The United States, which exports around two thirds of the world’s traded maize, already last year increased the area under maize cultivation by 18 percent, at least in part to meet the demand for bio-ethanol, used as a fuel in automobiles.
“If the U.S. wants to meet the same demand this year it has to maintain that sort of performance — which means it may have to plant less of other crops. This is why soya bean markets are reacting rather violently to developments.”
Guardian