Drought’s Footprint
More than half of the country was under moderate to extreme drought in June, the largest area of the contiguous United States affected by such dryness in nearly 60 years. Nearly 1,300 counties across 29 states have been declared federal disaster areas.
The down side of stubborn drought conditions are obvious of course, various levels of food production are seriously impacted which invariably leads to shortages and of course rising prices for food, but are rising prices inevitable?
Seldom are these posited reality "facts" closely examined or portrayed through in depth journalistic investigation--it seems only the sight and sound bites make the cut. Often the general population does not dwell beyond the journo-fodder and so acceptance is almost automatic without challenge or protest if a cursory glance "seems right."
In some circles the prospect of shortages and rising prices is a golden opportunity to capitalize on misery... so main stream perspectives vary between the misery of the drought and the giddy anticipation of making hay while the sun shines.
It is fairly easy to propagate the belief that higher prices are inevitable even though they are not--necessarily.
When the news focus is on the surface aspects of the 2012 drought, the general population is less likely to question the inevitability of shortages and higher prices for their food.
Seldom do you see a well balanced perspective which adds full context to the bigger picture. It seems that is how the politics of wealth creation through speculative gambling operates.
It may well be there is sufficient sustenance, after all, some reports say we throw about a third of our food away-daily, if this is so then surely we are far away from shortage.
Experts: 30 to 50 percent of world's food thrown away
Hard data is still being collected, but experts at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago this week said an estimated 30 percent to 50 percent of the food produced in the world goes uneaten.
In any event... the hardships tend to be relegated to a secondary component of the drought (or other disaster) phenomena, expect politics and commercial opportunity to prevail--at least in the mainstream press headlines.
How to solicit votes and profits... far usurps the humanitarian aspects, one can readily see how that wind blows, and now the "drought" exacerbates the issues.
The Amazing Ethanol Scam in the USA
Kate Incontrera spoke the truth in the The Daily Reckoning, July 16, 2007: ‘One of the obvious side effects of the ethanol craze is that the price of corn has risen 73% in the past year – but that isn’t the only food whose price is on the rise… And because animal feed with corn in it is more expensive, that cost trickles down to chicken, beef, eggs, cheese and – making soda-chugging Americans cringe – high fructose corn syrup.’
Comparing droughts: 1934 and 2012
More than 50% of the United States is under drought conditions, putting 2012 in the same category as some of the worst droughts in history. As bad as the current drought is, the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s remains the worst. At its height in July 1934, almost 80% of the nation was enduring drought conditions, compared with about 55% today.
US Drought Could Have Silver Lining: Fund Manager
“We expect to see a supply-side response, profitability is obviously very good in farming at the moment with corn around eight dollars so we expect to see a response which will counter that price rise and that’s a long-term trend we expect to see going forward, “ he said.
Corn prices have risen 27 percent to $8.29 a bushel and soybean prices rose 35 percent to record highs of $16.31 a bushel because of a severe drought that has hit the U.S. Midwest.
Coming soon, Drought politics--Drought crop damage worsens, ethanol waiver urged
Although not prevalent yet, expect the 2012 drought to become a focal point throughout the global political spectrum as agendas and campaigns align to take advantage of the world wide drought and shortage event. One can almost predict many pet unrelated items will be ensconced inside the "drought Trojan horse" legislation certain to be proposed before year end by governments everywhere.
Oh yes, and eventualy look for the human interest stories depicting the hardships of the common folk as they strive to weather yet another burdon upon them, probably try the very back page, that is where that will be.
For the situationaly aware it is a good time to evaluate your current location and circumstance in terms of a continued drought situation, one that may last for several years or more. Waiting is what everyone else does, that is how statistics are generated.
Just a friendly word to the wise.
Stay tuned...
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