Coincidentally, 2012 saw the largest acreage of corn in the U.S. planted since WW II, and subsequently the worst drought since the 1950′s, affecting 80% of agricultural land. This will cause price increases in meat and dairy, ethanol, and to a much lesser extent processed foods, since that is what virtually all of the cropland land is used for. Government subsidies and crop insurance go primarily to commodity crops, not human food ones, so the U.S. Government will be paying along with us for that drought.
In the U.S. 45% of all land is pasture or cropland. Cropland = 408 million acres. Of this:
Commodity crops – corn and soybeans, 170 million acres; wheat 57 million acres, oats 16 million acres, cotton 10 or more million acres, less for rice, oats and sorghum and others.
Specialty crops – vegetables, fruits and nuts, flowers, Christmas trees, etc. 14 million acres, most of these for food crops . (Until recent farm bills, these food crops were not subsidized, farmers were even penalized for growing them. Now a small percentage of subsidies goes towards them.)
This is why a salad costs more than a Big Mac.