Be Afraid

Read this. And here is a quote from the weekly KDMTrading Report, a dairy futures broker:

"Feed: The slowest planting progress since 1993 and the outlook for more cool, wet, weather over much of the nation had new crop corn break new highs this week. Dec. corn settled at $6.50 a bushel. Soybeans and meal were up sharply on Friday as well, with Nov. beans back over $13, and Dec. Meal at $312/ton. Already under pressure from giving up acres to row crops, the cold spring has also affected hay growers in WA. Alfalfa plants have usually grown "15 by the end of April, but are only 6-8" high. Some farmers have seen almost no growth in the last 10 days. Producers are being forced to decide whether to cut on schedule, or possibly forego a cutting later in the year. Either way, prices look to be going up."

I don't know what the truth is about global supplies of food, and whether recent food protests in various parts of the world are in response to honest-to-goodness shortages or simply high prices. But the combination of ethanol mandates, growing demand from Asia, and a prolonged period of cool weather could put extreme pressure on world food supplies.

Fear not global warming. Fear global cooling. Warming prevents glaciers over our heads and fosters growth and life. Cooling brings ice ages and low ag productivity and death. Just ask the Vikings who settled Greenland when it was green in the Medieval warming Period, only to have it turn cold a few centuries later, wiping out thier settlements.