US Corn Crop Failure

The weather catastrophe in the central United States had led to corn not being planted by the deadline. This is a serious problem. When you miss the deadline of May 20th, there’s little point in planting at all.

let’s please stay aware of what’s happening right now with crops. Things are about to get _really_ weird pic.twitter.com/XJDxdhdmyI — BuildSoil (@BuildSoil) May 29, 2019



Viewed another way:

Corn is not a major food crop for Americans. It is, however, a major food crop for animals and is widely used (as fructose) in processed food.

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Corn futures prices are already soaring. Expect that food prices in the fall and winter will be higher because of this.

The simplest initial scenario for events going Fubar due to climate change is actually a problem with food production. This situation isn’t big enough to be the trigger that sends everything spinning, but imagine a much larger crop failure (my go-to being monsoon failure), and world food prices spiking massively. Even if there is enough food, in theory, to feed everyone, many people won’t be able to afford it, and many places will have shortages.

This isn’t that event, but it is a harbinger. As my friend Stirling Newberry pointed out back in the 90s, the first result of climate change is more and worse extreme weather events.

In the meantime, please bear this particular spike in mind, as it’ll likely hit supermarkets this fall and winter.