Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Food Riots in Indonesia. And "Thieves Target Kansas Grain Elevators"

From the Financial Times:
Indonesia takes action over soyabeans

Indonesia was on Tuesday forced to take emergency action to calm street protests over record soyabean prices triggered by US farmers reducing the crop to grow more corn for biofuel.

Rising Chinese demand for soyabeans and bad harvests in Argentina and Brazil have also contributed to the jump, which saw Indonesia suffer the biggest food-related protests since last year’s Mexican tortilla crisis.

And from KMBC-TV:

Thieves Target Kansas Grain Elevators

The high cost of corn, wheat and soybeans is leading to a rash of thefts from grain elevators in western Kansas.The thieves have driven big rigs to the grain elevator, filled the truck with cash crops and then sold the grain somewhere else."There's incentives there for the wrong people," said Adrian Derousseau, who runs the Ottawa Coop grain elevator.
...a thief could fill up a semi-trailer with 1,000 bushels of corn in about five minutes. That load would be worth $5,000.
More, including video.