# Severe weather drives up prices of oats, coffee: Hart | Department of Economics

> Iowa State economist Chad Hart attributes higher oat and coffee prices to severe weather over the past year. He notes that western US droughts that began in 2020 led farmers to plant less oats and harvest about 40% less in 2021. The piece also discusses soybean oil demand for renewable diesel and the policy and energy-price factors that could drive a future biofuel boom.

- Date: 2022-01-04 · published 2022-01-04T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/43204-severe-weather-drives-up-prices-of-oats-coffee-hart-department-of-economics
- Commodities: [Oats](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OATS.md)

## Why it matters

Lower oat supplies from drought keep oat prices firm for feed buyers. The soybean oil biofuel outlook is a longer-term factor that depends on policy and crude prices.

## Read by commodity

- OATS: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OATS | 2021-12-22 | [Why coffee and oat prices are rising faster than oil’s](https://feedsoft.ai/events/43654-why-coffee-and-oat-prices-are-rising-faster-than-oil-s.md) | +4.3% | -3.9% |
| OATS | 2019-06-14 | [Feed weekly outlook: Grain prices strong as dry weather persists - Grainews](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58641-feed-weekly-outlook-grain-prices-strong-as-dry-weather-persists-grainews.md) | -6.8% | -7.7% |
| OATS | 2021-10-29 | [Oat Prices Reach Record Highs, Economists Aren't Convinced It'll Eat into Corn and Soybean Acres - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/44607-oat-prices-reach-record-highs-economists-aren-t-convinced-it-ll-eat-into-corn.md) | +4.3% | +6.3% |
| OATS | 2024-05-26 | [Oats scarce, prices rise \| Country News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/30300-oats-scarce-prices-rise-country-news.md) | -0.3% | -18.9% |
| OATS | 2025-09-08 | [A Weather Risk Case Study: Canadian Oats Market](https://feedsoft.ai/events/22921-a-weather-risk-case-study-canadian-oats-market.md) | -1.2% | +0.5% |

## Sources

- econ.iastate.edu: https://www.econ.iastate.edu/news/2022/severe-weather-drives-prices-oats-coffee-hart

---
Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.