預計全球食品價格將出現更為陡峭的上漲，這是消費者昨日得到的警告。此前美國官員表示，美國一些最好的農田正面對15年來最嚴重的洪水。
Consumers were yesterday warned to expect even sharper increases in global food prices after US officials said that some of the country’s best farmland is facing its worst flooding for 15 years.
農業官員和交易員都表示，洪水造成的損害，有可能推高全球玉米和大豆價格。近日，隨著洪水淹沒美國玉米產量最高的州——艾奧瓦州部分地區的農作物，全球玉米和大豆價格均已飆升。
Agricultural officials and traders said the damage could push up worldwide corn and soyabean prices, which have spiralled in recent days as floods have swamped crops in parts of Iowa, the US’s biggest corn-producing state.
發出這一警告之際，食品價格高企已經在不少第三世界國家引發抗議。
The warning comes at a time when high food prices are already sparking protests across the developing world.
芝加哥玉米期貨本周漲至每蒲式耳逾8美元的創紀錄高位，原因是人們擔心，至多500萬英畝的玉米可能損失。同時，大豆價格漲至每蒲式耳15.93美元的創紀錄高點。
Corn futures in Chicago this week rose to record highs of more than $8 a bushel on fears that up to 5m acres of the crop could be lost, while soyabean prices hit a record of $15.93 a bushel.
伊利諾斯州農業廳代理廳長湯姆•杰寧斯(Tom Jennings)表示：“玉米和豆類的價格都可能進一步上漲。如果我們損失大量玉米作物，價格還將繼續走高。”
Tom Jennings, acting director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said: “The price of corn and the price of beans could rise more. If we lose a lot of corn the prices will continue to go up.”
玉米和大豆都是牛、雞等牲畜的主要飼料。這兩種農作物的價格上漲，昨日連續第二天推高活牛價格，使其達到22年來最高水平。
The increase in the cost of corn and soyabeans – the two main feed crops for farm animals such as cows and chickens – increased the price of live cattle yesterday for the second day in a row, to the highest level in 22 years.
杰寧斯稱，近日大雨的沖擊是“戲劇性的”。
Mr Jennings said that the impact of the heavy rains was “dramatic”.
他告訴英國《金融時報》，“根據我正在得到的緊急報告，我們的應對狀況比1993年要好，但隨著(雨水)順流而下，我們還要關注后續局勢。”
“According to the emergency reports I’m getting, we’re above what happened in 1993 but we’ll have to see how that tapers off as [the rain water] comes down the river,” he told the Financial Times.
1993年，密西西比河沖垮堤壩系統，損毀約100萬英畝農作物，造成200億美元損失。
The Mississippi River broke through its levee system in 1993, destroying about 1m acres of crops and causing $20bn of damage.
芝加哥摩根大通(JP Morgan)的路易斯•哈格多恩(Lewis Hagedorn)表示，目前的損失嚴重。
Lewis Hagedorn, of JP Morgan in Chicago, said that the losses were significant.
“面對供應減少，配給需求成了根本需要，在這種情況下，農產品價格進一步升高的上行風險肯定更大，”他表示。
“The risk of still-higher agricultural prices remains decisively distributed to the upside amid the fundamental need to ration demand in light of smaller supply,” he said.
譯者/和風