Are We on the Brink of a Global Food Crisis?
It looks like global food production could be well below expectations in 2019, and that could spell big trouble in the months ahead. In recent weeks, I have written extensively about the problems that we have been experiencing here in the United States.
As many as a million calves were lost to the flooding that hit the state of Nebraska in March, farmers have planted less than half of the corn that is normally in the ground by this time of the year, and a lot of the crops that have been planted in the middle of the country are really struggling due to extremely wet soil.
But it isn’t just the United States that is facing a very troubling year. Earlier today, one of my readers sent me an article entitled “Global food crisis ahead as extreme weather events devastate crops and fields around the world,” which I would encourage everyone to read. In that article, we are told that after the worst drought in 116 years, Australia has actually been forced to import wheat. And according to The Guardian, this is the first time in 12 years that this has happened:
Australia is planning to import wheat for the first time in 12 years after drought across the eastern states saw grain production fall 20% last year.
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources confirmed this week it had issued a bulk import permit to allow wheat to be brought in from Canada to be processed for the domestic market.
Normally, Australia exports a tremendous amount of wheat.
In fact, they were the fifth largest exporter of wheat in the entire world last year.
But now they are having to bring wheat in from Canada, and that is a very ominous sign.
The article on Strange Sounds also detailed crop failures in Italy, France, Mexico and Argentina. I will not reproduce all of that information here.
But one major crop failure that was missed in that article is the massive rice crop failure in the Philippines:
More than P350 million worth of damage on rice crops due to drought was recorded by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA)-Capiz.
Per damage assessment report as of May 10, OPA information officer Florie May Castro said the damage on rice crops already reached P358,452,650 in the entire province of Capiz due to the dry spell.
All over the world, crops are being devastated by floods, drought and colder than expected temperatures, and many are desperately hoping for a return to normalcy for global weather patterns.
Things are particularly bad in North Korea. At this point, hardly any rain at all has fallen so far in 2019:
The rainfall is the lowest amount since 1982. Thus far in May, North Korea has seen 0.02 inches of rain. However, Pyongyang City, Nampho City, Kangwon Province and North and South Hwanghae provinces have seen no rainfall.
According to KCNA, if precipitation for the rest of May does not exceed 50 percent of the average annual precipitation, North Korea’s January to May rainfall totals will be about three inches, the lowest amount ever recorded for that time period.
With so little rain, farmers have had an exceedingly difficult time growing anything at all, and at this point the nation is facing an enormous food deficit:
Adding to the struggles is a widespread food shortage. The United Nations reported earlier this month that North Korea has a food deficit of 1.36 million metric tons. The 2018-2019 food crop production is an estimated 4.9 million metric tons, the lowest since the 2008-2009 season.
On top of everything else, let us not forget that African Swine Fever is absolutely devastating the global pig population.
According to The Hill, it is being projected that 200 million hogs could die from the disease in China alone:
Pork prices are expected rise as African swine fever decimates Chinese pigs, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
McDonald’s, Burger King, Jimmy Dean and Dunkin’ all reportedly expect sausage and bacon prices to rise this year as China has to import pigs to make up for the 200 million hogs that are expected to die from the disease.
To put that in perspective, that is more pigs than the entire U.S. pork industry produces in an entire year. For much more on this ongoing crisis, please see my previous article entitled “An Estimated 150-200 Million Pigs” Have Been Hit By A Global Plague Of Biblical Proportions.”
Here in the United States, endless rain and unprecedented flooding have been the biggest problems. The previous 12 months have been the wettest in all of U.S. history, and the middle of the country just got hammered by yet another series of severe storms:
Heavy rain, high winds and hail has swept across the central states, bringing devastation to the region during a brutally wet spring period, leaving 22 million people braced for more flash flooding.
Four million residents were under a flash flood ’emergency warning’ on Tuesday morning, including in Oklahoma, where as much as five feet of water entered homes in Hominy, to the northeast of the state.
Some 22 tornadoes have been reported so far across Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri, while rescue crews in boats pulled at least 50 people from flood waters as heavy downpours inundated roads and homes, said Oklahoma Emergency Management Agency.
Our planet is changing, and global weather patterns are going to keep shifting. The “new normal” is going to look a whole lot different from the “old normal,” and we all need to get prepared for a very uncertain future.
Even during the good years, the world has really struggled to feed everyone.
Now that we are facing catastrophic crop failures all over the planet, what will we do?
Many believe that a global food crisis is looming, and without a doubt, U.S. consumers will soon be paying much higher prices when they visit the grocery store.
This article originally appeared on the End of the American Dream blog. Reprinted with permission.
Listen to the podcasts to hear more from Michael Snyder.
