VOA标准英语2008年-Corn Prices Up Again Following Midwest Floods

Corn prices are surging on the world market after devastating¹ floods in the U.S. heartland destroyed many crops shortly after they were planted. Corn is also in high demand these days, because it is used for making the alcohol fuel additive² called ethanol, which is highly subsidized in the United States and mandated⁴ for use in gasoline. VOA's Greg Flakus went to the cornfields of western Iowa to learn more about the situation and filed this report.

Although rivers did not overflow⁵ here, this part of Iowa was hit by heavy rains that damaged newly planted crops and left some fields too wet to work.
　
Milo Ruffcorn

Mondamin, Iowa farmer says some of what he planted earlier was damaged by water.

"This would have been planted around the end of April and it is behind. I mean you can see how uneven⁶ it is. Where the water stands, of course, it stunts⁷ the growth," he said.

But he says the prospect⁸ of a higher price has sent him out to plant some more.

"I hope it is not a false optimism, but yeah there is more incentive⁹ with the price of the grain," he added.

Neighboring farmer Larry King says profits from higher prices may be limited by higher input¹⁰ costs.
　
Larry King with his 74-yr-old father

"The problem is as prices go up, our inputs¹¹ go up as well. Fertilizer has gone up. Fuel has gone up," he explained.

He says re-planting this late in the season will also limit his yield per section of land.

"I will probably get 25 to 35 bushels planting by this July 1 compared to 45 to 65 bushels," he noted¹².

Another factor pushing corn prices higher is the use of the grain for ethanol. Even before the recent floods, higher corn prices had caused livestock¹³ feed to jump in price. Texas Governor Rick Perry says the higher costs are driving some of his state's ranchers out of business and he is asking Congress to reduce the ethanol mandate³ by 50 percent.

"Although ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard mandate looked like a good idea five years ago, it's no longer a good idea," he said. "It's hurting Americans. It's hurting our families."
　
Brian Jennings

Brian Jennings is Vice¹⁴ President of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based American Coalition¹⁵ for Ethanol, an ethanol industry advocate organization, says several independent studies have shown that ethanol-driven demand has only a small impact on corn prices.

"Ethanol's role in food price inflation is about two to three percent, that means about 97 percent of the food price problem we have today is something other than biofuels. Now, primarily, this is a function of the record-high energy prices that we have," he explained.

He says it is too soon to say if a shortage of corn caused by the floods will affect ethanol producers.

"It is something we are watching very carefully," he added. "No one can control Mother Nature, of course. Hurricanes and floods wreaked¹⁶ havoc¹⁷ for the oil industry in 2005 with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. So these things do happen. We cannot control them and we are concerned about what the consequences might be."

No one knows more about the whims¹⁸ of Mother Nature than farmers. It continues to rain in some parts of the Corn Belt. Rain is necessary for the plants to grow, of course, but too much could flood the fields again.
　
A flooded corn field in Iowa

Milo Ruffcorn keeps hoping for a good crop that will meet market demand. High food prices may trouble consumers, but he says not many worried when prices were so low farmers were struggling to get by.

"Even though we have seen this market get a lot more in tune¹⁹ with where it should be here recently, I do not think we have seen that drastic of an effect on the food as a whole," he said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will come out with an initial assessment²⁰ of the corn crop on June 30 and follow up with another one in August. Those reports should provide a clearer picture of how much corn will be available at harvest time and what the prices will be.

　

 

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 additive   

adj.附加的；n.添加剂

参考例句：

• Colour is often an additive in foods.颜料经常是各种食物中的添加物。
• Strict safety tests are carried out on food additives.对食品添加剂进行了严格的安全检测。

3 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

4 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

5 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

6 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

7 stunts   

n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He did all his own stunts. 所有特技都是他自己演的。
• The plane did a few stunts before landing. 飞机着陆前做了一些特技。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

9 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

10 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

11 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

15 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

16 wreaked   

诉诸（武力），施行（暴力），发（脾气）( wreak的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city. 地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• They have wreaked dreadful havoc among the wildlife by shooting and trapping. 他们射杀和诱捕野生动物，造成了严重的破坏。

17 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

18 WHIMS   

虚妄，禅病

参考例句：

• The mate observed regretfully that he could not account for that young fellow's whims. 那位伙伴很遗憾地说他不能说出那年轻人产生怪念头的原因。
• The rest she had for food and her own whims. 剩下的钱她用来吃饭和买一些自己喜欢的东西。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

19 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

20 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？