Drought may cost billions in U.S. food exports
@CNNMoney August 2, 2012: 11:48 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The drought baking Midwest corn and soybean crops will likely cost the U.S. food export industry billions in lost revenue.
But unlike droughts in previous years, it should not cause a major disruption in worldwide food supplies.
Crops from other nations can mostly cover the loss, although some people who have recently grown accustomed to eating more meat, especially in developing nations, may have to cut back on it.
The United States accounts for over half the global export market for corn and nearly half of the soybean market. Some corn ends up in products like cereal and soda, but the biggest chunk is used as feedstock for pork, chicken and beef.
All told, U.S. agricultural products account for roughly 10% of the country's $1.5 trillion export market, according to the Census Bureau.
Exports of corn, soybean and meat products -- the items most at risk from the drought -- totaled $53 billion in 2011.
The drought this year "will definitely hurt the quantity of exports," said David Hightower, president of the agricultural futures newsletter The Hightower Report.
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