Midwest floods of 2008 : potential impact on agriculture / Randall Dean Schnepf.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schnepf, Randall Dean, author.

Series:

CRS report for Congress RL34583.

CRS report for Congress ; RL34583

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Flood damage.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (15 pages).

Place of Publication:

Washington, District of Columbia : Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress, 2008.

Summary:

Unusually cool, wet spring weather followed by widespread June flooding across much of the Corn Belt has cast considerable uncertainty over 2008 U.S. corn and soybean production prospects. As much as 5 million acres of crop production may be either lost entirely or subject to significant yield reductions. Estimates of crop damage vary widely, and could change based on the extent of plant recovery or replanting. The likely impacts, however, cannot be estimated until August 12, when USDA survey data becomes available. Significant damage also was incurred by agricultural processing facilities, livestock operations, grain elevators and storage facilities, and transportation infrastructure. On June 30, 2008, USDA released preliminary estimates of U.S. crop area. Since most of the survey data were collected prior to the flooding, USDA reinterviewed a smaller sample of farmers in the flood-affected areas in late June to improve estimates of abandoned and harvested acres for flooded areas. The new data suggested that 87.3 million acres had been planted to corn and 74.5 million acres to soybeans. However, the data suggested that a larger than normal share of planted acres would be abandoned -- much of it in the prime growing areas of the Corn Belt. Thus, harvested area for corn and soybeans were projected at 78.9 million and 72.1 million acres, respectively. USDA plans to collect additional survey data on harvested acres in the affected region in mid-July, which will be available by August 12. On July 11, 2008, USDA forecast the national average corn yield at 148.4 bushels per acre, down 4% from the historical trend yield to account for the combined effect of slow planting progress, unusually slow plant emergence, and a lower share of harvested area in the higher-yielding Corn Belt due to the flooding. However, final yields may still vary widely based on the extent of replanting and growing conditions through the remainder of the growing season. Congress has appropriated nearly $480 million in emergency funding, primarily for conservation activities in flood-affected regions, as part of the FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-252). USDA is also committing resources to the flood-affected areas including rescue and clean up, food assistance, housing, community assistance, business assistance, and farmer and rancher assistance. In addition, USDA announced permission, on July 7, 2008, to use CRP land for grazing only in disaster and contiguous counties. In light of recent record high market prices for corn and soybeans, and the outlook for extremely tight supplies by late summer, commodity market prices are likely to remain volatile through the remainder of the growing season. If flood-related crop losses ultimately prove sufficiently large (to be determined at harvest time), they will likely contribute to higher commodity prices, thereby adding to pressure on policymakers over concerns about consumer food price inflation, international food aid availability, and the soundness of policy that dedicates commercial agricultural crops to biofuels production, particularly corn used for ethanol. This report will be updated as events warrant.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.