Having been declared a natural disaster last week, the drought currently affecting the Midwest and North West of the United States is causing serious problems for maize and soy production in particular.

Later today, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will address the White House following a meeting with US president Barack Obama. Whitehouse officials said today that the agriculture secretary will update the president on the effect the drought is having on crops in the Midwest, where its effects are being felt most severely over the course of a news briefing being held this afternoon.

Concern is mounting in the Midwest, where the maize crop is already thought to have suffered irreversible damage and continued arid conditions, with higher than usual temperatures, are also having a marked effect on more resilient soybean crops. Meteorologists in the United States have said that light rains forecast in the weeks ahead will do little to ease conditions in the Midwest.

The situation is already affecting the price of maize. Upon the release of its latest Food Price Index, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said panic caused by the United States drought may lead to rises in food prices this month, which will affect the world’s poorest most acutely.

The drought had previously drawn comparisons to the 1988 drought, which caused billions of dollars’ worth of damage, but as it continues to extend its spread in the Midwest it is believed to have become the country’s worst since 1956.

There have been reports of some farmers in the most parched locations ploughing their crops under to claim insurance rather than continue to lose money on them. On Monday, the US Department of Agriculture revealed that just 30 per cent of the maize crop and 34 per cent of the soy crop are now rated ‘good to excellent,’ almost a ten per cent drop from last week’s levels.    

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