Grain prices have reached record highs amid the worst drought in the United States in half a century.
Government forecasters did not rule out that the drought in the US Midwest could last past October, continuing what has been the hottest half-year on record.
Dan Collins of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center said last night that "there's a greater chance that there is no relief possible or in sight."
More than half the US was experiencing moderate drought or worse this week, according to the latest US Drought Monitor report issued yesterday.
More than 70% of the Midwest Corn Belt was in some stage of drought in the week ended 17 July, up from 63% a week earlier.
It adds up to the worst drought conditions in the US since at least 1956, climate experts said.
Kelly Helm Smith of the National Drought Mitigation Center said, "we don't have a reason for saying it's going to improve," adding that warmer conditions in the coming months might well exceed current levels.
This is viewed as bad news for farmers and consumers, with corn, soybeans and wheat in the US, the largest world exporter of those key crops, baking in fields, losing yield potential daily or being ploughed under for insurance claims.
Corn for September delivery at the Chicago Board of Trade set a record high of $8.16 (€6.66) for 3/4 of a bushel, while soybeans for August delivery also set a record high of $17.49 (€14.29).
Wheat for September rose 4% at $9.35 (€7.64) and set a four-year high.
The knock-on effect of such soaring prices was already being felt around the world, where drought has also hit other grain exporters who are starting to cancel previous sales and leave hungry countries in the Middle East and elsewhere scrambling.
"A lot of buyers waited in the hope that rain in the US and east Europe would cool prices," one grain exporter said.
"But this is not happening and the US drought is not over."
The two big questions in the US Corn Belt - how low the harvest and how high the prices - were still unanswered.
But conditions were worsening as corn was failing to pollinate and soybeans, planted later, face their key growth stage in stress.
Iowa and Illinois, which together produce about a third of all US corn and soybeans, continue to bake.
