Locust plague could be friendly to corn market

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Locust plague could be friendly to corn market

An analyst says the COVID-19 pandemic is not the only global calamity impacting markets.

Ed Usset with the University of Minnesota tells Brownfield swarms of locusts are overwhelming parts of Africa and Asia.

“Locusts can do a lot of damage to a crop. And I think if it wasn’t for a pandemic that had our attention 100 percent, (the locusts) would be a headline every day.”

He calls it a terrible situation.

“But if, in fact food supplies are destroyed in those areas, it could become potentially a humanitarian effort and renew demand for some foodstuffs.”

Usset says grains like wheat and rice are most susceptible to the locust plague.

“These things all spill over. If in fact you could increase demand for wheat as a foodstuff, that pulls it out of feed channels.”

And since wheat is the second most-commonly fed grain behind corn, Usset says that would be friendly to the corn market.