"This ought to take the edge off commodity prices" making it easier for poor people to buy enough food. -U.S. Consultant John Schnittker
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2008 (Reuters) — Good weather will help the world's farmers reap record wheat and rice crops this year, the U.S. government said on Friday, which should allay fears of shortages and help bring prices down from current high levels.
The U.S. Agriculture Department also forecast a record global crop of feed grain, used to feed livestock.
US Moves Forward on $770 ml (World Aid)The USDA said the record harvests expected this year meant there would be an end-year world wheat surplus of 124 million metric tons, despite a rise in consumption of 3.5 percent. The higher rice crop would leave a stockpile of 82.6 million metric tons, the largest in six years, it said...
Strategists say that that it is rising fuel prices that have impacted the costs of delivering and purchasing emergency aid...
-And -not- 'food ethanol' which has impacted little more than 2 to 3 percent of the overall increase in global food prices... Food Prices said to be up 43 percent this year, over last... Read more.
The USDA said the world wheat crop would rise 8 percent to a record 656 million metric tons in 2008/09. It projected global rice output at a record 432 million metric tons, up 5 million metric tons from 2007/08.
The announcement was expected to calm fears of food shortages, worsened by the cyclone that hit Myanmar's rich rice-producing Irrawaddy delta last week...Read more.
