Pop! Goes Iowa Corn..

By now we’ve all seen the horrific pictures of flooding in Iowa on CNN. Countless homes and businesses have been destroyed and families uprooted. It's a tragedy in every sense of the word.

And, because of what the state's famous for -- its corn -- the impact of the floods reaches far beyond Iowa’s borders. Iowa corn is used in a variety of products, ranging from the sweeteners we use in our soft drinks to cereal to packing materials. Needless to say, with all of the rain and damage the price of the commodity has soared.

Just how bad have things gotten? The price per bushel has gone from about $4 last year to around $7 now - and traders are talking about the possibility of it hitting $10. If you think you're paying a lot at the supermarket now, just wait. The longer farmers are kept out of their fields, the worse the pricing situation could become and the higher the likelihood of earnings being affected.

Don’t forget that ethanol is a corn-based fuel. The Associated Press quoted Citigroup analyst David C. Driscoll as saying, “As a result of this unprecedented weather event which has happened only twice in the last 25 years, ethanol margins have plummeted over the same ten-day time span with small and mid-size ethanol producers now running at substantial losses against cash costs."

Finally, a lot of chickens and pigs and other farm animals eat corn-based food. To the point, the cost of raising those animals could go up as well, which probably means higher prices for that Ori KFC you so enjoy or the bacon you're given to wolfing down at breakfast.

So stay tuned. However things shake out over the next few days will have a big impact on your wallet.