As we watched an entire house float down an Indiana river on television, we picked up the New York Times and learned that it doesn’t look like this is going to be a particularly productive year for crops. Farmers are trying, knowing that there is a shortage of food worldwide. They plan to plant four million more acres than 2007. But wet weather is making that difficult and in certain areas, farmers are already predicting lower yields than last year.

Soybean planting in the U.S. is running 16 percent behind land year. Arkansas rice farmers are late. There are some bright spots. The wheat harvest is expected to be 8 percent above last year in the U.S., but Australia still hasn’t come out of its lengthy drought and in some parts of the country wheat farmers have been unable to plant at all.

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