Ukraine is known as the breadbasket of Europe; along with the U.S. and Australia, it’s one of the world’s top wheat exporters. And a lot of the wheat leaves the country via the Crimean peninsula. The risk of this trade route being cut off has pushed up grain prices this week.
Farmers reap grain in combine harvesters on land near Zhovtneve village, in the region of Chernigov. (GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images)
But prices haven’t increased too much, thanks to an expected surge in American grain production. Before the crisis the U.S. government had been forecasting that because of this abundance, grain prices would fall to a 10-year low.
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