US flooding ruins crops and threatens global food prices

The floods, which began at the end of May, have killed 24 people and caused damage estimated at billions of dollars. They have also dashed hopes of a bumper harvest in the Midwest.

Donnie Miller, who has farmed in Iowa for three decades, said he had never known such a disastrous year. Ever since the Iowa River, a tributary of the Mississippi, flooded three weeks ago, much of his 1,400-acre maize and soya bean farm near Solon has been waterlogged.
“If the floods don’t go away, nothing will get planted and it’s getting very late,” said Mr Miller, who now estimates his maize harvest will be down 50 per cent on last year.

“Anything that’s growing is stunted. Normally it’s chest-high at this time of year. Now, it’s five inches.”

Bad weather – a cold spring followed by heavy rain – had already prompted fears of a poor harvest even before the Mississippi broke its banks so spectacularly that even President George W Bush came to see. This year’s maize (known in the US as corn), soya bean and rice crops were all planted late because of the rain, increasing the likelihood of a poor yield.

Now, the flooding that has swept through Iowa, Illinois and Missouri may lead to the loss of up to five million acres of crops. Some agriculturalists say that by the time the water recedes in the next week or two, it will be too late for crop recovery or replanting.

While some experts dispute the comparisons that have been made with the Great Depression, nobody denies that the repercussions will be felt far beyond America. Its farmers produce 60 per cent of the maize traded internationally, as well as a third of the soya beans, a quarter of the wheat and a tenth of the rice.

Telegraph