President Barack Obama announced an emergency purchase of up to 170 million dollars of meat and fish on Monday on a campaign trip to drought-hit Iowa, and accused Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan of blocking disaster aid to farmers.
The price of corn suffered its biggest fall for 15 years on Thursday, prompting speculation that the high cost of food may start to ease. Corn prices dropped 10% after a US Department of Agriculture report that farmers are sowing unexpectedly large amounts of the grain.