US Drought Driving Record Prices for Soybeans, Maize

 Maize¹ and soybean prices set new records as drought continues to spread across the American Midwest. Higher food prices are expected to follow, and the U.S. meat industry will be especially hard hit.

Maize traded above $8 a bushel (per 25 kilograms) in futures² trading Thursday. That breaks a record set last July. It is about four times the average maize price through most of the 2000's.

Soybeans used to trade at around $5 a bushel, says Purdue University economist³ Chris Hurt. "Now we're trading at over $17," he said. "So again, tripling a base price just a few years ago."

Hurt says the U.S. drought hits at a time when supplies are already extremely tight. About a quarter of the U.S. maize crop is made into ethanol fuel, and China's growing appetite for livestock⁴ feed is gobbling up soybeans.

Higher prices will help farmers who have a crop to sell. But with three-quarters of the crop in drought-hit areas, many farmers will be taking losses. And Hurt notes that crop farmers will not be the only ones who suffer.

"The animal sector⁵ is also going to have major financial losses," said Hurt. "They have much higher feed costs. And in the short run they can't pass that on to consumers."

Hurt says there may even be bankruptcies⁶ in the U.S. livestock industry.

And since American farmers are the largest suppliers of food commodities to the world, Hurt sees a global impact.

"So, this shortage in the United States is clearly going to cause concerns and problems in the rest of the world," he said.

He says the drought will push up prices for bread, cereal and other grain-based foods first. "The people that hurts the very most always in these situations is the lowest-income people in the world, those who are already in dire⁷ poverty."

The poor in sub-Saharan Africa likely will not be hit as hard as in other food price spikes⁸ over the past five years, according to Maximo Torero with the International Food Policy Research Institute. Torero says that's because those countries mostly grow their own maize. But impacts will be bigger in other regions.

"What it will do is it will affect of course the price of meat and dairy in the following months. And that sure will affect Asia, especially China and India," said Torero.

Experts say the effects will likely grow as the drought in the United States continues.

1 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

2 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 bankruptcies   

n.破产( bankruptcy的名词复数 )；倒闭；彻底失败；（名誉等的）完全丧失

参考例句：

• It's a matter of record that there were ten bankruptcies in the town last year. 去年这个城市有十家破产是事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Business bankruptcies rose 50 percent over the previous year. 破产企业的数量比前一年增加５０％。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

8 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》