OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden on Thursday predicted during a press conference at a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, that global food shortages will be a “real” thing, thanks to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
When asked about the issue after discussions with European Union and NATO leaders, Biden said, “It’s going to be real.”
Biden went on to note that both Russia and Ukraine are considered the “breadbasket of Europe,” as both, combined, produce about one-third of all global wheat exports. With the war between both countries raging and after both governments have curbed exports of food commodities to ensure enough supply for their own citizens, Biden laid out tough times coming for food supplies around the world.
“The price of these sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia; it’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries, as well, including European countries and our country, as well,” Biden said.
The president went on to say that he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to Europe’s leaders that the U.S. and Canada will move to bolster supplies of grain.
“We both talked about how we could increase and disseminate more rapidly food shortages,” he said.
The president also called on European nations to eliminate or reduce restrictions on food exports.
“We’re in the process of working out with our European friends what it would take to help alleviate the concerns relative to food shortages,” he said.
Biden’s pledge that the U.S. will step up exports of food commodities may not be as easy as he thinks, however, based on the current agricultural situation in the country.
According to a Reuters report last week, enduring drought conditions throughout much of the U.S. wheat and corn belt have dramatically reduced overall production and output:
A worsening drought in the southern U.S. Plains is threatening the region’s winter wheat crop just as the Russian invasion of Ukraine dents global supplies.
Some farmers in southwestern Kansas, the top U.S. wheat-producing state, have not received much measurable rain or snow since October. Winter wheat is planted in autumn, lays dormant in winter, and begins sending up green shoots in spring. Proper soil moisture is critical at this stage for the crop to thrive.
More than half of Kansas was classified as under severe drought or worse as of March 8, the driest conditions since 2018, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Severe drought is also covering three-quarters of Oklahoma and more than two-thirds of Texas, both of which also are large wheat producers.
Water shortages also come “on top of a freak December wind storm that swept away some topsoil in parts of the U.S. wheat belt,” which was damaging to some cropland, the report continued.
The report noted that U.S. hard red winter wheat makes up almost half of the total U.S. output annually. It is used primarily for milling into bread flour. A production shortfall is liable to “further stoke food inflation that the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said was the highest-ever in February,” Reuters reported.
The organization’s Food Price Index averaged 140.7 points last month, which was 20.7 percent higher than a year ago, surpassing the 2011 record.
“U.S. wheat futures soared to the highest levels in 14 years early last week as the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushed two of the world’s largest wheat exporters out of the market,” Reuters continued. “That has importing countries scrambling for replacement sources.
“Meanwhile, the winter wheat crop in China, the world’s largest producer of the grain, is expected to be among the worst ever after heavy rainfall delayed planting,” the report added.
“As of March 6, just 24% of Kansas’ wheat crop was in good condition or better, while 39% was rated poor to very poor, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is the lowest rating for this point of the season in four years, the agency’s data shows.”
