Watch Out For Even Higher Food Prices: Why Do We Still Need Farm Welfare?

From AOL News: Contracts for future deliveries of corn, soybeans and wheat prices surged to the most permitted by the Chicago Board of Trade in a single day. Corn was up 4.5%, soybeans were up 3.25% and wheat was up 5%. So far in the past year, corn prices have risen by 87%, soybeans have jumped 41% and wheat has climbed 54% -- thanks in part to bad weather in Russia and Australia, two major wheat producers. The surge in prices on the futures exchanges was in reaction to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that stockpiles of corn measured at the beginning of March had fallen 15% from their levels a year ago. Higher Grain Prices = Higher Meat PricesThe U.S. is the world's largest consumer of corn. It seems to be in nearly everything -- cereals, sweeteners and ethanol for our cars. Corn, and to a lesser extent soybeans, are also important for feeding livestock. According to the National Corn Growers Association, about 80% of all corn grown in the U.S. is consumed by "domestic and overseas livestock, poultry, and fish production." So higher prices for these commodities means that prices for beef, pork and chicken are likely to go up as well down the road... Just how much have beef and pork prices headed higher? Since last summer, beef has risen 27% and pork is up 32%. 'That's huge; we've never experienced cattle prices at this level," says Good.Ephraim Leibtag, an economist at the Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, says his department has revised upwards its grocery price forecast for the coming year. It now expects prices to rise 4% in 2011."If commodity prices continue to rise or even stay at these high levels," he says, "there's an upside risk for future increases later on in the year. It could take several months before the higher commodity prices are reflected in higher meat price."Good says the reason that corn inventories are down so dramatically is the 2010 crop was smaller than in previous years -- and that we're consuming corn at a much faster rate than last year. See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/igbYBR With all these high prices, please tell me again why we still have welfare for farmers? Especially large, millionaire farms?