Coincidentally, 2012 saw the largest acreage of corn in the U.S.
planted since WW II, and subsequently the worst drought since
the 1950′s, affecting 80% of agricultural land. This will cause
price increases in meat and dairy, ethanol, and to a much lesser
extent processed foods, since that is what virtually all of the
cropland land is used for. Government subsidies and crop
insurance go primarily to commodity crops, not human food ones,
so the U.S. Government will be paying along with us for that
drought. In the U.S. 45% of all land is pasture or cropland.
Cropland = 408 million acres. Of this: Commodity crops – corn
and soybeans, 170 million acres; wheat 57 million acres, oats 16
million acres, cotton 10 or more million acres, less for rice,
oats and sorghum and others. Specialty crops – vegetables,
fruits and nuts, flowers, Christmas trees, etc. 14 million
acres, most of these for food crops . (Until recent farm bills,
these food crops were not subsidized, farmers were even
penalized for growing them. Now a