Abbie Fentress Swanson

Corn prices hit record highs this past August when they soared to over $8 a bushel, in large part because the drought hammering U.S. farms decimated corn stocks. Such prices were a windfall for Midwest farmers who actually had corn to sell. But could high corn prices hurt farmers if they drive buyers looking for cheaper grain and feed to South American farms?

On Friday, I left the rolling hills of Columbia, Mo., and headed northwest, to the flat farmland of Saline County. The purpose of the drive was to get a look at the priciest cropland in Missouri for a story I'm doing on how investors with no connection to farmland are increasingly interested in buying acreage in the Midwest. I had heard from farmers and real estate brokers that cropland values were at all-time highs in the Corn Belt, and incredibly many of the tracts of land are being paid for in cash.

Each July, the University of Missouri Extension sends out a survey to lenders, rural land appraisers and real estate brokers in the state to get a sense of average values for farmland. This past year, the counties with the most valuable farmland in the state -- those that average more than $5,000 per acre -- include Stoddard, Butler, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Dunklin, Saline, Carroll, Chariton, Pettis, Howard, Boone, Audrain, Callaway, Cooper, Scotland, Clark, Lewis, Marion and Ralls. 

Monday’s final presidential debate between Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama in Boca Raton, Fla. will focus on foreign policy. But policymakers and researchers gathered at a University of Missouri food insecurity conference hope the candidates will make some time on the agenda for food and farm policy.

While Canada grapples with the largest beef recall in its history, meat suppliers and retailers in the U.S. have been dealing with their own share of fallout from the contaminated meat. The recall has consumers and food safety advocates demanding anew that the U.S. Department of Agriculture keep fresh meat border inspections in place so tainted meat can be stopped before it enters the food supply chain.