SIOUX CITY, IA -
The Drought of 2012 has caused severe damage
to the nation's grain crops this year, but those farmers aren't the
only ones feeling the burn.
Cattle and hog farmers are getting nervous, because when there isn't enough corn, the cost to feed their animals goes up.
The heat and dry conditions have already
affected the corn crop here in Iowa and other parts of the U.S., but
this may only be the beginning.
That's because the corn that has survived will cost more, because there's less to go around.
"We may be over a billion bushels short, so when we talk about corn
rationing, the price has to go up," said Dave Stender, a Swine
Specialist at Iowa State University.
He says before 2006 the corn price used to average $2.30 a bushel, now it's three times that price.
That kicks off a domino effect. Cattle and
hog farmers rely heavily on that corn to feed their livestock. If the
cattle farmers can't afford the corn feed, they may be forced to shut
down, which could lead to farmers selling their livestock, meaning less
profit for them and higher prices for you at the grocery store.
"Pork is $3.50 a pound, so 30 cents, 35 cents, that'd be a 10 percent
increase, so that's the kind of thing were talking about. We have to
feed pigs, and there's not a lot we can do. I mean in Iowa, there is
corn and soybeans, and we can find alternative feeds or try to, but we
have to haul them in from somewhere else, there just not here," Stender
said.
And well after this drought is over, consumers will feel the pinch.
Stendel also said a good option for cattle
and hog farmers would be to sell their livestock now at a lighter
weight while the market is high.
