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Russia, the world's third wheat exporter, Thursday banned grain exports for the next four-and-a-half months due to a record drought that has destroyed millions of hectares (acres) of its land. Wheat futures shot up to new two-year highs on commodities markets after the sudden announcement from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin raised concerns about global grain supplies

Fears of food inflation and tighter global supply make China and India, holders of nearly half the world's wheat reserves, reluctant to send large volumes to market despite surging prices that offer a huge opportunity. The world's most populous nations, China and India are estimated to finish the 2010/11 crop year with a combined stockpile of around 78 million tonnes, 44 percent of the world total of 175 million, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. But they will probably defend that stockpile in the face of rising consumption. "I don't think China will be an exporter because of increasing domestic...

The Food Shock Of 2011 By Addison Wiggin 10/26/10 Baltimore, Maryland – Every month, JP Morgan Chase dispatches a researcher to several supermarkets in Virginia. The task – to comparison shop for 31 items. In July, the firm’s personal shopper came back with a stunning report: Wal-Mart had raised its prices 5.8% during the previous month. More significantly, its prices were approaching the levels of competing stores run by Kroger and Safeway. The “low-price leader” still holds its title, but by a noticeably slimmer margin. Within this tale lie several lessons you can put to work to make money. And...

JANUARY 13, 2011 Prices Soar on Crop Woes U.S. Cuts Global Grain Supply Outlook; Higher Prices Expected at Grocery Stores. By SCOTT KILMAN And LIAM PLEVEN Evidence of tightening global food supplies grew as the U.S. Agriculture Department cut its estimates for global harvests of key crops and raised some demand forecasts, adding to worries about rising food prices. Prices of corn and soybeans leapt 4% Wednesday and wheat gained 1%, continuing the broad rally in commodity prices that began in June. With yesterday's gains, prices of corn futures contracts are now up 94% from their June lows; soybeans are...

Evidence of tightening global food supplies grew as the U.S. Agriculture Department cut its estimates for global harvests of key crops and raised some demand forecasts, adding to worries about rising food prices. Prices of corn and soybeans leapt 4% Wednesday and wheat gained 1%, continuing the broad rally in commodity prices that began in June. With yesterday's gains, prices of corn futures contracts are now up 94% from their June lows; soybeans are up 51% and wheat is up 80%. The USDA's revisions reflect the impact of dry weather in South America and floods in Australia, which have compounded...

The craziest part of the uprising in Egypt is how it caught us all by surprise. After all, it was predicted — three years ago. Unfortunately, nobody was paying attention. It sounded too weird. The warnings weren’t coming from political analysts, but from climate and crop experts. Which means — what? Climate topples dictator? No way, right? Way. Let’s walk through it. Consider those warnings in the spring of 2008. It was a time of worldwide food shortages. Wheat prices had doubled from the year before, and other crops weren’t far behind. Hunger became critical, and riots exploded from Bangladesh...

China Drought Global Food Crisis To Trigger Many More Egypts Commodities / Food Crisis Feb 10, 2011 - 06:14 AM By: Justin John The Chinese government has reportedly decided to spend $1 billion to battle the drought plaguing huge areas in the north, as wheat prices continued their climb and the UN warned of serious consequences for the winter harvest. The drought is the worst in six decades in many areas, and has left a swathe of grain-producing regions reeling from a lack of any significant rainfall in more than three months. The money will be spent to divert water...

Ethanol has proven to be an inadequate solution to the problem of foreign oil, but it has toppled at least one Arab ruler and may not be done yet. The Soros backed college students and the Islamists have done their part in the protests, but the Tunisian and Egyptian mobs would never have made their showing without a goad. And the goad was high wheat prices. Part of the spike in wheat prices was due to the shift to ethanol production. Remember when Americans were lining up with cans of gasoline during the OPEC oil boycott? Arab Muslims are now...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) — The riots in Cairo are the result of United States policy gone bad. In fact, we — you, me, U.S. taxpayers — are to blame. Strategic policy, I am not speaking of. Political policy, I am not speaking of. Nor am I talking about defense policy or other such foreign relations. The uprising in Cairo is about U.S. tax dollars supporting farm programs that wreak havoc on food prices worldwide.

Newt Gingrich has been touring Iowa lately, attempting to generate interest in a run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, and he’s been going the traditional route of defending farm subsidies, especially for ethanol. Gingrich blasted the media for its skeptical approach to ethanol subsidies, especially the Wall Street Journal, saying that “big urban newspapers want to kill it because it’s working,” and then questioned the WSJ’s values. The editors have responded in an unsigned editorial titled “Professor Cornpone,” and they give Gingrich both barrels: Here’s how he put in Des Moines, with that special Gingrich nuance: “The morning that...

Newt Gingrich got himself in a bit of hot water in some conservative circles recently with his support of Ethanol subsidies. It drew the scorn of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, who implied that the former speaker might have more than a passing financial interest in propping up King Corn. On Thursday Newt took to the “letters” pages of the WSJ to fire back. In the interest of fairness, we should allow him to make his case. Second, I am not a lobbyist for ethanol, not for anyone. My support of increased domestic energy production of all forms, including...

With the 2012 presidential election already on presidential aspirants’ front doorstep, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is hiking the campaign trail, stomping the path of ethanol subsidies. Last Tuesday, the former Speaker visited the Renewable Fuels Association summit in Des Moines, touting the praises of ethanol and its progressive impact on the environment. He then tenderized the farm industry saying, “We have had a problem of farm income back to the 1890s and 1880s [and] the fact is that every time the farmers start to do well someone starts to attack them.” A battle between Gingrich and the Wall Street...

Ethanol damages engines and is not a viable alternative to fossil fuels, but farmers and lobbyists don't want you to know that

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that cars and light trucks in the 2001 model year and later could safely use a blend of 15 percent ethanol mixed with gasoline, up from the 10 percent standard now in much of the country. The decision means that about 62 percent of all vehicles can now use the fuel. But the practical impact of the announcement on the fuel blend, known as E15, was not clear. An announcement in October that cars in the 2007 model year and later could use the blend has so far had little impact on retailers or...

The last time these columns were lambasted by a presidential candidate in Iowa, he was Democrat Richard Gephardt and the year was 1988. The Missouri populist won the state caucuses in part on the rallying cry that "we've got to stop listening to the editorial writers and the establishment," especially about ethanol and trade. Imagine our amusement to find Republican Newt Gingrich joining such company. The former Speaker blew through Des Moines last Tuesday for the Renewable Fuels Association summit, and his keynote speech to the ethanol lobby was as pious a tribute to the fuel made from corn and...

--snip--Today there is a global food shortage and skyrocketing prices. This has become the underlying factor in the riots in Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt, where up to 56% of a person's income is dedicated to the acquisition of food. These riots are now leading to the upheaval of governments and the very real possibility of the ascendancy of the radical elements into control...

"Two hundred years ago, this was prairie covered with six-foot-high switchgrass. Winnebago Indians lived here, and then white settlers … Now 50 wind turbines that were erected over the winter and the (VeraSun) ethanol plant, have brought new energy to a town that long lived off the ground God created with glaciers, and laid down here."

<p>As we know, massive popular unrest has broken out against autocratic governments in North Africa and the Arab world. Egypt is the biggest story. But to varying degrees, the people have taken to the streets in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, and Yemen.</p>

With the 2012 presidential election already on presidential aspirants' front doorstep, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is hiking the campaign trail, stomping the path of ethanol subsidies. Last Tuesday, the former Speaker visited the Renewable Fuels Association summit in Des Moines, touting the praises of ethanol and its progressive impact on the environment. He then tenderized the farm industry saying, “We have had a problem of farm income back to the 1890s and 1880s [and] the fact is that every time the farmers start to do well someone starts to attack them.” A battle between Gingrich and the Wall Street...

...and he filled tanks feeding the boat’s 200 horsepower Mercury engine with gas that had been blended with 10 percent ethanol. “I heard a station in Greenville had straight gas, but I just took it to the next one I could find. Within 10 minutes, my engine started failing,” Gray said. “(The ethanol) had crystallized and crumbled and had clogged my fuel line, and I had to tear out all of the fuel system.” Gray saved hundreds of dollars by repairing it himself, but his troubles with the motor are nothing new to marine shop owners, lawn mower mechanics and...