<p>The drought in America's breadbasket is intensifying at an unprecedented rate, experts have warned, driving concern food prices could soar if crops in the world's key producer are decimated.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The US Drought Monitor yesterday reported almost a threefold increase in areas of extreme drought over the past week in the nine Midwestern states where three quarters of the country's corn and soybean crops are produced.<br /><br />"That expansion of D3 or extreme conditions intensified quite rapidly and we went from 11.9 per cent to 28.9 per cent in just one week," Brian Fuchs, a climatologist and Drought Monitor author, told AFP.<br /><br />"For myself, studying drought, that's rapid. We've seen a lot of things developing with this drought that were unprecedented, especially the speed."<br /><br />Almost two-thirds of the continental United States is now suffering drought conditions, the largest area recorded since the Drought Monitor project started in 1999.<br /><br />"If you are following the grain prices here in the US, they are reflecting the anticipated shortages with a price increase," Fuchs said.<br /><br />"In turn you're going to see those price increases trickle into the other areas that use those grain crops: cattle feed, ethanol production and then food stuffs."<br /><br />In some rural areas, municipal water suppliers are talking about mandatory restrictions because they have seen such a dramatic drop in the water table that they fear being unable to fulfill deliveries to customers, Fuchs said.<br /><br />"Things have really developed over the last two months and conditions have worsened just that quick and that is really unprecedented," he said.<br /><br />"Definitely exports are going to suffer because there is going to be less available and the markets are already reflecting that.<br /><br />"It's anticipated that this drought is going to persist through the next couple of months at least and conditions are not overly favorable to see any widespread improvement," he added.<br /><br />President Barack Obama's administration has opened up protected US land to help farmers and ranchers hit by the drought and encouraged crop insurance companies to forgo charging interest for a month.</p>
<p>The drought in America's breadbasket is intensifying at an unprecedented rate, experts have warned, driving concern food prices could soar if crops in the world's key producer are decimated.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The US Drought Monitor yesterday reported almost a threefold increase in areas of extreme drought over the past week in the nine Midwestern states where three quarters of the country's corn and soybean crops are produced.<br /><br />"That expansion of D3 or extreme conditions intensified quite rapidly and we went from 11.9 per cent to 28.9 per cent in just one week," Brian Fuchs, a climatologist and Drought Monitor author, told AFP.<br /><br />"For myself, studying drought, that's rapid. We've seen a lot of things developing with this drought that were unprecedented, especially the speed."<br /><br />Almost two-thirds of the continental United States is now suffering drought conditions, the largest area recorded since the Drought Monitor project started in 1999.<br /><br />"If you are following the grain prices here in the US, they are reflecting the anticipated shortages with a price increase," Fuchs said.<br /><br />"In turn you're going to see those price increases trickle into the other areas that use those grain crops: cattle feed, ethanol production and then food stuffs."<br /><br />In some rural areas, municipal water suppliers are talking about mandatory restrictions because they have seen such a dramatic drop in the water table that they fear being unable to fulfill deliveries to customers, Fuchs said.<br /><br />"Things have really developed over the last two months and conditions have worsened just that quick and that is really unprecedented," he said.<br /><br />"Definitely exports are going to suffer because there is going to be less available and the markets are already reflecting that.<br /><br />"It's anticipated that this drought is going to persist through the next couple of months at least and conditions are not overly favorable to see any widespread improvement," he added.<br /><br />President Barack Obama's administration has opened up protected US land to help farmers and ranchers hit by the drought and encouraged crop insurance companies to forgo charging interest for a month.</p>