NEW YORK — Floods that have inundated the Midwest could reduce world corn supplies and drive food prices higher at a time when Americans already are 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 already say the toll appears grim, with thousands of acres probably destroyed in the region that grows most of the world’s corn.
The most recent floods have sent corn prices soaring past $7 a bushel for the first time, up from about $4 a year ago. Prices shot to a record for a seventh straight day Friday, climbing as high as $7.37 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Floodwaters also hurt soybean crops, sending prices to near all-time highs. Wheat, oats, rice and other food commodities were damaged too.
