The conflict in Ukraine between two of the world’s largest grain producers and exporters is the latest but certainly not the only factor that has led to soaring agricultural commodity prices, according to a report released on April 6 by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture. The paper, written by Paul Trupo, USDA international trade specialist, describes a perfect storm of inflationary factors that date back to late 2020 and include increased global demand, led by China; drought-reduced supplies; tightening wheat, corn and soybean stocks in major exporting countries; high energy prices pushing up costs of fertilizer, transportation and agricultural production; and countries imposing export bans and restrictions, further tightening supplies.