Bakers could be forced to raise the cost of bread and other bakery goods as a result of poor harvests in both the UK and US.
According to the Daily Mail website, the drought in America as well as the poor summer in Britain, could force up the global price of crops.
British farmers have said heavy rain and lack of sunshine have decimated or delayed harvests, while 35 states in the United States have declared disaster areas due to droughts.
Jose Graziano Da Silva, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, said at a conference in Sweden yesterday that food prices could reach a crisis point next year, if harvests in the southern hemisphere are poor, and called on G20 nations, which produce up to 95% of crops hit by price rises, to take “co-ordinated action”.
The UK wheat harvest is making steady progress but there were concerns about poor quality in a report published by ADAS. By 21 August, 25% of the wheat area in Great Britain had been harvested, compared to 70% this time last year, according to the HGCA, the cereals and oilseeds division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
As of 5 July, the forward price for a delivered tonne of wheat in the north west, in November 2012, stood at £225 per tonne (p/t), compared with the delivered November figure in June which stood at £188.50 p/t.
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