Grain Prices Surge With Midwest Floods

The floods inundating the Midwest are pushing grain prices to new highs, the Wall Street Journal reports. Corn prices jumped 10% to a record high last week as farmland flooded. The domino effects will hit the ethanol industry, hog farmers, and even owners of catfish ponds who rely on corn to feed the fish. Food prices are now forecast to keep climbing for years.

Food processors' share prices have plummeted. At grain processing plants, employees have been diverted to filling sandbags. In Iowa, where the entire state is experiencing flood conditions, hundreds of millions of gallons of ethanol production have been forced off line and experts warn that much more is likely to follow, pushing up the price of oil as much as 15%. (More Midwest stories.)