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NEW YORK — Floods that have inundated the Midwest could reduce world corn supplies and drive food prices higher at a time when Americans are already stretching their grocery budgets and people in poor countries have rioted over rising food costs.
The U.S. government will report later this month on how many acres of corn were lost to floodwaters. But farmers and agriculture experts say the toll appears grim, with thousands of acres probably destroyed in the region that grows most of the world’s corn.
The recent floods have sent corn prices soaring past $7 a bushel for the first time, up from about $4 a year ago. July corn futures gained 22.75 cents Friday to close at $7.3175 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.
