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Food Crisis Imminent: Hungary Bans All Grains Exports Effective Immediately
Food Crisis Imminent: Hungary Bans All Grains Exports Effective Immediately
(Update 1:25pm ET) – Those who have it, are no longer giving it away, and those that don’t will soon find themselves in the middle of an epic food crisis.
Just hours after we reported that Russia effectively banned exports of fertilizers, moments ago Hungary – one of Europe’s most grain rich nations – has circled the wagons and realizing which way the wind is blowing, just announced that it will banning all grain exports effective immediately, in a statement .
Expect wheat prices, already at record highs, to promptly double from here in the next few weeks as the world realizes the extent of the global food crisis that is coming.
Our suggestion: buy flour, rice, barley and any other grains you can now, rather than waiting one month to buy them because you have to.
* * *
Earlier
This morning we listed some of the countries that are dangerously (and almost exclusively) reliant on Russia and Ukraine for their wheat imports, highlighting Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia and others…
… which are facing an “Arab Spring” style food crisis (and potential uprising) in the coming weeks unless the Ukraine conflict is resolved.
And unfortunately, we can now confidently predict that the coming food crisis will strike every country that is using food fertilizer – which is all – because moments ago, Russian Interfax reported that as part of Moscow’s countersanctions, Russia has recommended fertilizer makers to halt exports, a move which will sent not only fertilizer prices orbitally higher, but all food prices will soon follow.
- *RUSSIA RECOMMENDS FERTILIZER MAKERS TO HALT EXPORTS: IFX
- *RUSSIAN MINISTRY CITES LOGISTICS ISSUES ON FERTILIZERS: IFX
Worse still, natural gas is required in the manufacturing process for most nitrogen/fertilizer products and so the recent surge in European NatGas prices to record highs will only exacerbate the cost of fertilizer from any halt from Russia…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
‘I’m afraid we’re going to have a food crisis’: The energy crunch has made fertilizer too expensive to produce, says Yara CEO
‘I’m afraid we’re going to have a food crisis’: The energy crunch has made fertilizer too expensive to produce, says Yara CEO
“I want to say this loud and clear right now, that we risk a very low crop in the next harvest,” said Svein Tore Holsether, the CEO and president of the Oslo-based company. “I’m afraid we’re going to have a food crisis.”
Speaking to Fortune on the sidelines of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Holsether said that the sharp rise in energy prices this summer and autumn had already resulted in fertilizer prices roughly tripling.
“To produce a ton of ammonia last summer was $110,” said Holsether. “And now it’s $1,000. So it’s just incredible.”
Food prices have also risen, meaning some farmers can afford more expensive fertilizer. But Holsether argues many smallholder farmers can’t afford the higher costs, which will reduce what they can produce and diminish crop sizes. That in turn will hurt food security in vulnerable regions at a time when access to food is already under threat from the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, including widespread drought.
The company, whose largest shareholder is the Norwegian government, has donated $25 million worth of fertilizer to vulnerable farmers, Holsether said. But Yara isn’t able to eat the costs of such a dramatic rise in energy prices, he says…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Russia’s deputy chairman of the Security Council warns of major food crisis
Russia’s deputy chairman of the Security Council warns of major food crisis
Read more At:
https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/russias-deputy-chairman-of-the-security-council-warns-of-major-food-crisis20211101131512/?fbclid=IwAR10LvlQqZOeS3kQwU71Jte_oG08IGPZcENnMDtl24sEKU1i7-q_uk4MDck
Gates Thinning the Heard with a Food Crisis?
Biden is now paying farmers not to grow crops and was perhaps directed by Bill Gates, who has become the biggest farmland holder in the USA. The risk of starvation around the world is rising. The real question is very dark. Is this part of Gates’ idea on how to reduce the population? Perhaps Warren Buffett and George Soros will lead the way and just die rather than clinging to every last breath to screw with the rest of us, the Great Unwashed, for whom they have never had any respect whatsoever.
Some ask if becoming a billionaire creates a new type of disease of assuming they are demi-gods. They certainly seem to lose touch with humanity. They seem to allegedly cheer genocide as long as they can pull it off without a gun or gas chamber. Does having too much money that could never be spent bring out the Hitler in people? I would love to see a physiological study on that subject.
The United Nations, the puppet of Gates and Schwab, is sounding the alarm that the number of people who do not have enough to eat or are starving in crisis countries has reached a five-year high. The corona manufactured pandemic has disrupted the food supply dramatically and is pushing things over the edge. Yes, there are also violent conflicts, economic crises, and extreme weather events that also come into play. With a little luck, Gates will be able to reduce the population as we head into 2027, for already there are around 155 million people that were already in an acute food crisis in 2020, according to the UN. The UN World Food Authority reported at the beginning of May 2021 that the number had already increased by 20 million people more people over 2020 so far this year.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Food Crisis of 2021 in Europe
We are staring in the face of a serious food crisis in Europe as food prices rise continuously, and with further draconian COVID measures within the EU, they are bringing the food supply chains to a standstill. Our models have been warned that this 8.6-year cyclical wave into 2024 will be one of commodity inflation due to SHORTAGES rather than speculative demand. All the indications that the world is heading for a serious food price crisis are in play. The Food Price Index (FFPI) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) averaged 107.5 points in December 2020, an increase of 2.3 points (2.2%) compared to November 2020, which represents an increase for the seventh consecutive month.
With the exception of sugar, all sub-indices of the FFPI recorded slight gains in December, with the sub-index for vegetable oil again rising the most, followed by that for dairy products, meat, and cereals. For 2020 as a whole, the FFPI averaged 97.9 points, a three-year high, 2.9 points (3.1%) higher than in 2019, but still well below its 2011 high of 131.9 points. It is also interesting that the FFPI in 2002 was still 53.1 points. It only increased significantly from the financial crisis of 2007/08, only to then level off in the 90-point range. Since May 2020 it has increased by 18%.
Our models project that the upward trend in the FFPI will intensify going into 2024. With the coronavirus mutating, as we warned ALL viruses do, as such, we have these various strains from Africa, Brazil, UK, and even California, are inspiring politicians to use this as an opportunity to restrict the population even further. These corona measures have extended to the food supply chains, disrupting them just as we see in electronics…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
armstrong economics, food, food crisis, europe, martin armstrong, food price inflation, food shortages, supply chains,
UN Warns of Impending Food Crisis
UN Warns of Impending Food Crisis
The United Nations issued a dire warning on Tuesday that the world stands on the brink of the worst food crisis in the last 50 years, according to The Guardian.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is facing an “impending global food emergency” that could impact hundreds of millions of people as the coronavirus pandemic threatens already strained supply chains, according to Hong Kong-based Asia Times. He warned that the recessions that follow the pandemic will put basic nutrition out of reach for millions.
“Our food systems are failing, and the Covid-19 pandemic is making things worse,” the UN chief said in a statement accompanying a report by the UN. “More than 820 million people are hungry. “Some 144 million children under the age of five are stunted – more than one in five children worldwide.”
That’s particularly troubling as malnutrition has lifelong consequences. If the number of children who suffer from malnutrition grows, it is likely to cause increased stunting and provide a future strain on health care systems.
Guterres warned that “this year, some 49 million extra people may fall into extreme poverty due to the Covid-19 crisis,” according to Asia Times.
“Unless immediate action is taken, it is increasingly clear that there is an impending global food emergency that could have long-term impacts on hundreds of millions of children and adults,” as The Guardian reported. “We need to act now to avoid the worst impacts of our efforts to control the pandemic.”
The UN Secretary-General provided a three-point plan for attacking the hunger crisis: focus aid on the worst-stricken areas to avoid immediate disaster, to improve social safety nets so children, pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers along with other at-risk group receive adequate nutrition, and to invest in healthy and sustainable food systems and supply chains for the future, according to Guterres’ statement.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Sustainable Living: How To Take Control of Your Food Supply
Sustainable Living: How To Take Control of Your Food Supply
Food freedom is all about getting creative and using what you have. With a little resourcefulness, you could literally create a backyard microcosm and take control of your very own, homegrown food supply.
With a worldwide health crisis circulating the globe, it’s important to remember and put thought into what today is. Today is the day we focus on better ways to take care of Earth. Because let’s be honest, we haven’t done enough to care for this precious planet we call home. The way we live directly impacts our environment and, let’s be honest, humans are very wasteful in regards to using up precious resources.
The health crisis, which quickly became an economic crisis, and will soon morph into a food crisis shouldn’t stop us from doing the right thing by our bodies and the Earth. In fact, these crises should highlight how much more important it is to be self-sustainable by providing your own food and caring for the planet. We should all desire to take control of our food supply for the betterment of ourselves and the environment this Earth Day!
American decline is playing out in the news on a daily basis. Food banks are overwhelmed by those people who are unable buy groceries for their families. Mass unemployment and threats of looming economic recessions are forcing families to find more sustainable ways of making what they have work. As a result, rampant consumerism which is the backbone of the economy in America is doing an about-face.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Next Crisis: Food
The Next Crisis: Food
There’s a reason we’ve been urging folks to plant a garden
“Oh crap! Bermuda grass? In my garden space? The kind with underground runners that’s nearly impossible to eliminate except by digging up every single root and rhizome?”
For reasons I cannot fully explain I became absolutely inspired to “find a place” starting last September.
Today, my partner Evie and I are settling in to our new home. We closed on it on January 28th and it took a solid month to move things over from our former residence.
First things first, we set about correcting a decade’s worth of deferred maintenance. The furnace relay switch was quite dodgy, the gravel on the driveway was way past due for replenishment, the gutters leaked, and the apple trees were in desperate need of pruning.
Now that it’s April, I find myself every day — after my research and writing is done of course — out in the old garden space, digging new beds and turning over every square inch of the soil. Not because I want to, but because some misguided former owner thought planting Bermuda grass in the garden was a good idea.
This is the sort of grass that spreads to new horizons with meaty underground rhizomes that can spread ridiculously far from the parent plant. Arggh!
Oh, and the new chicken house, predator-proofed with hardware cloth on every possible entry point, had to be set up, too.
The list of needed improvements seem to stretch as far as the eye can see. An insurmountable pile of tasks that will be required to raise it to our high standards of creating a place of lasting beauty and abundance.
Right now? It’s a barely-dented tapestry of a thousand projects. You might be unimpressed if you took stock of all that we haven’t tackled yet.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Record Low Temps Up To 50 Degrees Below Normal Threaten To Absolutely Wreck The Rest Of The Harvest Season
Record Low Temps Up To 50 Degrees Below Normal Threaten To Absolutely Wreck The Rest Of The Harvest Season
It isn’t supposed to be this cold in October. The official start of winter is still almost two months away, and yet the weather in much of the western half of the country right now resembles what we might expect in mid-January. All-time record lows for the month of October are being set in city after city, and this extremely cold air is going to push into the Midwest by the end of the week. Temperatures in the heartland will be up to 50 degrees below normal, and unfortunately about half of all corn still has not been harvested. Due to unprecedented rainfall and extreme flooding early in the year, many farmers faced extraordinary delays in getting their crops planted, and so they were hoping that good weather at the end of the season would provide time for the crops to fully mature and be harvested. Unfortunately, a nightmare scenario has materialized instead. A couple of monster snow storms have already roared through the Midwest, and now record low temperatures threaten to absolutely wreck the rest of the harvest season.
When temperatures get significantly below zero for more than a few hours, scientists tell us that it will kill standing corn…
A significant freeze (28°F or colder for a few hours) will kill the whole plant, and any frost will act to defoliate plants, resulting in diminished grain filling for the seeds, especially on the upper half of the plants.
And right now we are facing a crisis because less than half of all U.S. corn has been harvested.
In fact, according to the latest USDA Crop Progress Report just 41 percent of all U.S. corn has been harvested so far…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Global Authorities Brace For A Worldwide Protein Shortage As “One-Quarter Of Earth’s Pigs Have Been Wiped Out”
Global Authorities Brace For A Worldwide Protein Shortage As “One-Quarter Of Earth’s Pigs Have Been Wiped Out”
African Swine Fever is killing millions upon millions of pigs all over the world, and this threatens to create a crippling global shortage of protein as we head into 2020. This epidemic began in China last year, and it is now also running wild in North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines. But this crisis is certainly not limited to Asia. According to the Washington Post, so far in 2019 there have also been outbreaks “in Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine.” Overall, cases of African Swine Fever have been documented “in nearly 50 nations”, and U.S. pork producers are extremely concerned that it could start spreading here too.
African Swine Fever is extremely contagious, there is no vaccine, and there is no cure. Once it starts spreading in a certain area, there isn’t much that can be done “other than culling herds and loading carcasses into hazardous waste sites”. Literally, we are talking about an unstoppable global plague that is an existential threat to our food supply. Of course many of us don’t eat pork, but there will also be an immense strain on supplies of beef and chicken as those that eat pork are forced to turn to other alternatives. This is an exceedingly serious situation, and with each month it is just getting worse.
China is the epicenter for this crisis, and CNN is reporting that the Chinese herd has “shrunk by around 130 million” since this epidemic first began last year…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Scientist: The Food Crisis Will Have Humans Eating Maggots For Protein
SCIENTIST: THE FOOD CRISIS WILL HAVE HUMANS EATING MAGGOTS FOR PROTEIN
As an alternative to meat, one scientist has suggested that humans will acquire the habit of eating maggots in order to reach their protein intake requirements. “Maggot sausages” will be the “meat” of the future according to an Australian scientist, Dr. Louwrens Hoffman.
Food scientists at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia are incorporating insects such as maggots and locusts into a range of specialty foods, including sausage, as well as formulating sustainable insect-based feeds for the livestock themselves. “Would you eat a commercial sausage made from maggots? What about other insect larvae and even whole insects like locusts? The biggest potential for sustainable protein production lies with insects and new plant sources,” said Dr. Hoffman.
Hoffman says that the meat industry is not sustainable, but people can start eating insects instead. “An overpopulated world is going to struggle to find enough protein unless people are willing to open their minds, and stomachs, to a much broader notion of food,” said Hoffman. The scientist says that conventional livestock production will soon be unable to meet global demand for meat. That means that other “fillers” and alternatives will be needed to supplement the food supply with sufficient protein sources, according to The New York Post.
“In other words, insect protein needs to be incorporated into existing food products as an ingredient,” he says. “One of my students has created a very tasty insect ice cream.” The Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) team is focusing on disguising insects in pre-prepared foods, says Hoffman, as studies have shown Westerners shy away from eating whole insects.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Food Crisis 2019: An Outbreak Of African Swine Fever Is Devastating The Global Pig Population, And Pork Prices Are Skyrocketing
Food Crisis 2019: An Outbreak Of African Swine Fever Is Devastating The Global Pig Population, And Pork Prices Are Skyrocketing
An absolutely devastating disease is wiping out herds of pigs all over Asia, and most people in the western world don’t even realize what is happening. Since it was first detected last August, there have been 116 officially reported outbreaks of African Swine Fever in China, and since that time it has rapidly spread to surrounding nations such as Cambodia and Vietnam. African Swine Fever is not harmful to humans, but the vast majority of the pigs that catch it end up dead. It spreads very quickly and there is no cure, and this outbreak has already driven global pork prices through the roof. If this crisis continues to escalate, we are potentially talking about a crippling blow to global food production.
China raises and consumes far more pigs than anyone else in the world, and it is also the epicenter of this crisis.
At this point we don’t know exactly how many pigs that they have lost, but we have some numbers that at least give us an idea. For example, the Chinese government admitted that China’s pig herd was 13 percent smaller in January compared to a year earlier…
China’s pig herd fell 13 percent in January compared with the same month a year earlier, while the number of breeding sows was down 15 percent from the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
China once had a population of 430 million pigs, and taking 13 percent of that number would give us a total of 55.9 million pigs that have been lost.
But there have also been allegations of a “cover-up”, and some believe that the true number of pigs that have been lost is closer to 100 million.
In either case, we are talking about potentially apocalyptic losses.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The U.S. Faces A Catastrophic Food Supply Crisis In America As Farmers Struggle
The U.S. Faces A Catastrophic Food Supply Crisis In America As Farmers Struggle
American farmers are battling several issues when it comes to producing our food. Regulated low prices, tariffs, and the inability to export have all cut into the salaries of farmers. They are officially in crisis mode, just like the United States’ food supply.
“The farm economy’s in pretty tough shape,” said John Newton, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation. “When you look out on the horizon of things to come, you start to see some cracks.” Average farm income has fallen to near 15-year lows under president Donald Trump’s policies, and in some areas of the country, farm bankruptcies are soaring. And with slightly higher interest rates, many don’t see borrowing more money as an option. “A lot of farmers are going to give the president the benefit of the doubt, and have to date. But the longer the trade war goes on, the more that dynamic changes,” said Brian Kuehl, executive director of Farmers for Free Trade, according to Politico.
With no end to the disastrous trade war in sight, many farmers have traveled to Washington to share their plights with the president himself hoping that he’ll end the trade war that’s exacerbating an already precarious food crisis. Farmers make up a fairly large chunk of president Trump’s base, and an unwillingness to put food production in the United States first could be detrimental for Trump reelection chances in 2020. It could also be the beginning of a catastrophic food shortage.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis warned back in November of rising Chapter 12 bankruptcies used by family farmers to restructure massive amounts of debt. The Fed said that the strain of low commodity prices “is starting to show up not just in bottom-line profitability, but in simple viability.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Food Crisis In The Making: Farm Bankruptcies Reach Horrifying Levels
Food Crisis In The Making: Farm Bankruptcies Reach Horrifying Levels
We are amidst a food crisis. Farms in the United States Midwest are filing for chapter 12 bankruptcy at an alarming rate. And many are saying president Donald Trump’s trade war is taking the most blame.
We hate to say we told you so, but we told you so. The trade war was a bad idea and everyday average Americans are footing the bill for this asinine policy of tariffs. Now, the food supply could be in jeopardy because of political posturing and that will not bode well for already cash-strapped American families.
A total of 84 farms in the upper Midwest filed for bankruptcy between July 2017 and June 2018, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. That’s more than double the number of Chapter 12 filings during the same period in 2013 and 2014 in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, reported Vox.
Farms that produce corn, soybeans, milk, and beef were all suffering due to low global demand and low prices before the trade war, according to economists, but president Trump’s trade war is making the problem even worse by exacerbating the weaknesses in the American economy. China has retaliated against the tariffs by slapping billions of dollars worth of tariffs on United States agriculture exports in response to Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products. Other countries, including Canada, have also added duties to US agriculture products in response to Trump’s tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum.
The worst part is perhaps the solution the government has proposed to the very real problem they have created. Things have gotten so bad that the Trump administration launched a $12 billion aid package for US farmers coping with retaliatory tariffs that foreign countries have imposed on their products.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Is Britain sleepwalking into a food crisis?
Image: Andrew Stawarz, CC BY-ND 2.0
On May 8th the government will end its consultation period on a new agricultural policy for England. Revealingly, its policy document – called ‘Health and Harmony: The future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit’– has more to say about the environment than either food or farming. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) wishes to end the direct subsidies that farmers have received under European Union policies, and environmental schemes are at the heart of its proposals. The policy seems likely to go through, with firm support from environmental groups.
But this is curious in two ways. Policy for the environmental consequences of agriculture is very important. As we read this week, “In the past 50 years in Britain, through the intensification of agriculture, we have destroyed well over half of our biodiversity, and the populations of birds, butterflies and wild flowers that once gave the landscape such animation and thrilling life have been utterly devastated”.
The measures will be beneficial and they flow on from those of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), 87 per cent of which in England now goes to agri-environment schemes. However, they mainly concern indirect effects of agriculture. DEFRA has little to say about its immediate impacts on the soil itself and through emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases. The report’s 64 pages make no mention of the damage done to soils by modern industrial agriculture as such.
Soil scientists now understand the varied roles that soil microbes play in these areas and more: nutrient cycling; carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus utilisation; carbon sequestration; methane mitigation; soil fertility; and plant nutrient density. Carbon sequestration means a healthy soil will counter climate change since it absorbs carbon dioxide. This has stimulated a farming method called regenerative agriculture, which rebuilds organic matter and restores biodiversity in the soil, ‘resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.’ But DEFRA says nothing about that.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
