Floods May Further Bloat Food Costs

Heavy flooding in the Midwest has sent corn prices soaring to record highs -- that much is clear. But what the effects will be in grocery stores and on dinner tables is far from obvious.

The torrential rains have left plantings down and projected U.S. production is set to fall 10% this growing season vs. last year, according to the most recent data published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on June 10. As a result, prices for September-dated corn contracts have zoomed to $7.22 a bushel recently, up from around $6 at the end of June.

That may be as far as it goes.

Don Roose, president of West Des Moines, Iowa-based U.S. Commodities, says he doesn't see the price going a whole lot higher. ...