Quote Originally Posted by Watcher In The Middle View Post

Anybody who thinks our pols aren't paying attention to all the additional rivers of cash that Argentina's government is bringing in with these export tariffs is crazy.

But think about what the consequences would be in the international relations arena if all the sudden the US starts treating food exports the same way as OPEC treats oil.

Thoughts?
Actually I was talking to a DHS planner about what would happen with an unknown "blight" of corn or wheat. An unexpected genetic drift in hybrids or a unknown/unexpected insect outbreak could wipe out harvests unlike anything in the past (it makes ag people nuts). I'm outside my area of expertise but I believe the issue is called something like uni-crops or something like that. The normal bio-diversity of crops isn't being done like it was in the past and the result is a larger volume of the harvest is effected by any single event since "everybody" is growing "everything" alike. The hybrid nature of some crops and a lack of multiple crops seems to be the issue.

Then there is salination of soil due to improper irrigation.