Windfall Profits for Big Food: Where's The Outrage?

As Food Prices Spiral, Farmers, Others Profit

WILLMAR, Minn. (AP) — The steepest run-ups in food prices since 1990 are hurting grocery shoppers, restaurants and school cafeterias but they're making others rich.

The winners in the new food economy include crop farmers selling corn and wheat for near-record highs after years of crushingly low prices. Ingredient makers like Cargill and ADM (ADM) are rife with profits. Fertilizer and tractor companies are cashing in.

Profits at seed and pesticide maker Monsanto Inc. (MON) reached nearly $1 billion last year — a 14-fold increase since 2003. They've tripled to $1.1 billion at agrichemical maker Syngenta (SYT) and agriculture divisions of DuPont Co. (DD) and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) have also seen their earnings balloon. Cargill, which makes ingredients, boosted its profits to $2.3 billion, up nearly six-fold since 2001. Meanwhile, profits at agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co. have more than quadrupled to $2.16 billion during the same period.