After Drought Ends We Will Still Feel Its Effect

Think the current drought is only hurting corn farmers?  Think again.  You can expect at least an 8% rise in the cost of meat, dairy and poultry products because of the prolonged extreme heat in the country. According to the University of Missouri Agricultural Economist, Scott Brown, the increases probably won’t show up immediately but they will affect the prices of goods through possibly 2014. The problem is that the drought has dramatically reduced the feedstuffs that animal agriculture needs to raise cattle, swine, and poultry. Corn yield will probably suffer a 10% or more decrease compared to last year.  Soybean meal and hay prices, which are staples as animal feed, have also reached extremely high levels. With that, means a shrinking livestock supply which in turn means higher prices with less meat, pork and poultry in the grocery stores.  Even with a shortage of these foods, the general public has made less trips to the grocery store to purchase other items as well.  So it looks like we may talk about the effects of the drought this year but we may experience those effects during the next two years