Droughts and Upcoming High Prices

By now I am sure that everyone is aware of the horrendous droughts that are effecting a good part of the nation.  Corn crops have been hit especially hard and that means higher prices for anything corn related.  I was amazed when I started looking at all the things that either had corn in them or was "corn related".

Have you ever looked at how many foods, besides the obvious, have corn in them?  All of these "ingredients" are derived from corn. 
Baking Powder
Cellulose
Corn Flour
Corn Oil
Corn Syrup
Diglycerides
Ethyl acetate
Fructose
Fumaric Acid
Gluten
High-Fructose Corn Syrup
Invert Sugar
Saccharin
Sorbic Acid
Sorbitol
Sucrose
Xanthan Gum
Xylitol
Zein

If you read the labels on most processed food you will find at least one of these "ingredients" listed.  Just off the top of my head I can think of crackers, cereals, juices, soda, baked goods, canned fruits and veggies.  All of these things will be rising in cost.

Have you ever considered that meat prices will also be affected?  Many feedlots use corn to help feed their livestock.  The price of feed is going to go way up and farmers will not be able to afford to feed all their livestock.  This means that they will be selling them off cheap creating a deal to be had soon on pork, poultry and beef.  It will be short lived however when there will be less livestock later and prices will be high.  Stock up while the prices are low and freeze your meat to avoid the high prices we will surely be seeing in a couple of months. 


Corn us used for fuel.  If there is little corn available then the cost of other fuel goes up.  That means transportation costs go up which in turn means prices go up in the stores to cover that cost.  Prices at the gas pump are predicted to rise as are overall costs of goods.  Everything will be affected from food to paper products.


My plan is to stock up while the prices are still low so that I will not have to pay the high prices later.  This is a necessity for us since my paychecks are delayed a month when I am working.  I have a check coming in at the end of this month for the hours I worked in June but will not see another paycheck until the end of October for hours worked in September.  I usually do stock up ahead of time for the months when I have no income (Jeff still has a regular paycheck) but will be doing even more to "hedge my bets" on the upcoming higher prices.  I would advise everyone to do the same.