A massive drought has emerged across large swaths of the US agricultural belt, threatening crops and livestock and eventually affecting food prices, at a time when fertilizer and diesel costs are soaring. As of early April, 60% of the Lower 48 is in drought as the Northern Hemisphere growing season begins and farmers begin plantings, according to NOAA. 

The southern US is already experiencing severe, extreme, and even exceptional drought conditions, putting pressure on key crops such as sugarcane, rice, and peanuts, while fruit trees have also been damaged by extreme temperatures.

Across the Great Plains, otherwise known as the nation’s breadbasket, winter wheat farmers are being forced to decide whether to keep the struggling crop or cut losses and replant, with dry soil also making germination harder.

The drought also complicates matters for ranchers, as the nation's cattle herd is already at its lowest level since the 1950s. As a result, some ranches may further reduce their herds, which will only push beef prices to new record highs.

In the western US, the problem is not so much rainfall as shrinking mountain snowpack, which threatens irrigation supplies ahead of the growing season. Water-use cutbacks for agricultural purposes are already being discussed or imposed in places such as Washington’s Yakima Basin and along the Colorado River.

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X user Tony Heller noted, "The US is facing a drought possibly similar to the drought of 1610, which wiped out the Jamestown Colonists."

 All bad news for food prices. Traders are piling into these agri ETFs: "Why The Fertilizer Crisis May Spark Record Inflows Into Agri ETFs."