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IAN COWIE | PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Wheat may soon be in short supply — that’s why I am relying on Uncle Norman

The Sunday Times

While most reports about Ukraine focus on human suffering and the war’s impact on global energy supplies, another economic effect will soon be felt closer to home. Wheat prices hit a record high, soaring 50 per cent since hostilities began in a region sometimes described as “Europe’s breadbasket” because it grows so much of our food.

This is unlikely to prove “transitory” (as the Bank of England described rising inflation last year) because the Russian invasion has halted planting of this year’s spring crop. It has also raised doubts about whether winter wheat, sown last autumn, will ever be harvested. Food prices, here on British high streets and around the world, are bound to be affected by this wide-ranging and increasingly intense commodities crisis.

Russia