RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Russia and Ukraine together produce nearly one-quarter of the world’s wheat, feeding billions of people in the form of bread, pasta and packaged foods.
With major shipping lines cutting ties to Russia and the UK banning shipments from Russia, the global food supply is now permanently disrupted.
What are the implications of the world’s breadbasket no longer being supplied, and more importantly, who benefits? Christian explores this in this Ice Age Farmer broadcast.
HERE IS SOME KEY INFORMATION
- Nearly half of the world’s container ships will no longer sail to and from Russia, from food and metals to clothing and electronics. This has lasting implications for food supplies.
- All shipments of agricultural commodities from Ukraine have been halted. Commodity traders have to look elsewhere.
- Grain trade from Russia has also come to a halt, and even if it had not, ports would not allow Russian ships to unload their goods.
- If the conflict lasts longer, the consequences could be severe. Wheat will have to be rationed.
- Wheat is a strategic grain. When prices go up, as we know, there are serious geopolitical consequences. Prices are now back to 2008 levels.
- The chain of product creation, growing food from cultivation to shipping at the port, is wholly paralyzed at a time when food prices are already at record highs.
- Most of Ukraine’s agricultural production is in the east of the country. 76% of wheat is grown in the east, 69% corn, and 77% oilseeds.
This article is an excerpt first published at ‘Ice Age Farmer’