New forecast: 'Mass starvation'

Commodity analyst says crop failure would shock

A commodities expert has launched a warning that the next major crop failure around the world could be a bigger shock than $150 oil and result in "mass starvation."

The forecast comes from Chicago-based Don Coxe, a leading agricultural industry expert, in a report in the Commodity Online publication.

"When we have the first serious crop failure, which will happen, we will then have a full-blown food crisis, which we will not be able to get out of because we will still be struggling to catch up (as a result of diminished crop yields)," he told the publication.

He suggested that even could happen this year.

Coxe explained climate change
will make growing seasons shorter, generating lower crop production, which would squeeze supplies.

Coxe, whose credentials include analysis of agriculture interests for more than three decades in the U.S. and Canada, including management of Harris Investment Management, said the result would be a domino effect.

A crop collapse in North America
would hit hard among international markets that depend heavily on U.S. exports.

The lower food production also is being aggravated, he noted, by governments in North America. CONTINUE