Losses of crops due to heavy rains and flooding in Iowa, the Dakotas and Ohio will likely cause food prices to increase both immediately and over the longer term, say
Iowa Farm Bureau Federation’s (IFBF) crop experts. Dave Miller, IFBF director of research and commodity services, said 100,000 acres of Iowa farmland will be affected by the rising floodwaters of the Missouri River, and another 50,000 acres could be indirectly affected by backed-up water that is slow to drain. Flooding across the Upper Midwest, the Mississippi River basin and Missouri River areas have caused a loss of 2 million harvestable acres in the past month. Prices of corn products will rise in the short term, and meat prices will increase in the next six months to a year as livestock farmers reduce their herds in reaction to higher feed costs, Miller said.