Food Supply In The U.S. Will Continue To Shrink

5 Reasons Why the Food Supply in the United States Is Going To Continue To Shrink

Madge Waggy 

We are truly moving into unprecedented times.  For decades, the U.S. has been the leading agricultural power in the world.  Most of us have lived our entire lives in an environment of “more than enough”, and that is because food production has never been a major concern in this nation.  But now things are changing.  Food production is being hit from all sides by a “perfect storm” of problems, and this “perfect storm” is only going to intensify in the months ahead.  The following are 5 reasons why the food supply in the United States is going to continue to shrink…

#1 Are you ready to eat less beef?  The worst drought in the western half of the country “in 1,200 years” is forcing countless ranchers to reduce the size of their herds.  As a result, “beef production is expected to decline by 7%” by 2023…

Persistent drought conditions throughout the Western U.S. have decimated grazing pastures which causes cattle farmers to spend more money on supplemental feed which presents another major problem for the beef industry.

By 2023, beef production is expected to decline by 7% and cattle prices are expected to increase to record highs. These increased costs and shrinking supply pose serious problems for meatpackers like Tyson Foods Inc., JBS USA holdings Inc., Cargill Inc., and National Beef Packing Co. It is likely that the increased cost of beef production is already being passed onto consumers. The more expensive it is to raise and maintain cows, and as fewer cows are raised for slaughter, the more expensive beef products will eventually cost. Ground beef and chicken prices have already reached all-time highs.

#2 The extraordinary drought in the western half of the country has also had an enormous impact on the winter wheat harvest.  It was 8 percent smaller than last year, and so that is going to mean less bread and pizza to go around as the year rolls along…

In the first survey-based projection of the 2022 crop, the US Department of Agriculture in its May 12 Crop Production report forecast winter wheat production in 2022 at 1.173 billion bushels, down 103.818 million, or 8%, from 1.277 billion bushels in 2021.

The USDA winter wheat forecast was based on harvested area projected at 24.499 million acres, down 965,000 acres, or 4%, from 25.464 million acres in 2021, and an average yield forecast of 47.9 bushels an acre, down from 50.2 bushels an acre in 2021.

#3 Thanks to extremely bizarre weather conditions, spring planting was way behind schedule in many parts of the Midwest…

Farmers in parts of the Midwest are behind their usual schedules for spring planting because of wet weather conditions. According to the latest Agriculture Department crop progress report, 49% of corn acreage has been planted in the 18 states surveyed, compared with 78% this time last year; 30% of soybean acreage, compared with 58%.

#4 More than 37 million chickens and turkeys have been wiped out in the U.S. during the new bird flu pandemic that has erupted this year, and that is going to mean less chicken meat, less turkey meat and less eggs for all of us.  Already, the price of eggs has reached absolutely insane levels…

#5 In Florida, a disease known as “citrus greening” is causing immense damage.  In fact, we just witnessed the worst crop of oranges in Florida in 70 years…

Florida oranges had their worst crop in 70 years. They’re facing a deadly disease called citrus greening, spread in the body of the invasive Asian citrus psyllid. Today, nearly every citrus grove in Florida is infected with the disease. If an orange tree were to remain untreated, the disease would block its ability to get nutrients and kill it within a few years.

Each one of the factors that I just listed is a crisis.

Collectively, they represent an extremely serious threat.