Quincy Pigs take refuge on a roof in Oakville, Iowa, as floodwaters from the Mississippi continue to move south to threaten Illinois and Missouri. Water surged past levees and spilled into farms, small towns and parkland yesterday, adding to billion-dollar losses that have reignited global food-inflation fears.

More than two dozen levees on the key US commercial waterway have overflowed or been breached, causing grain and meat prices to soar.

Corn prices have reached record highs after two weeks of flooding that has submerged or stunted crops on millions of acres of land. Political pressure was growing to provide relief. In Quincy, Illinois, volunteers filled sandbags to contain the river, which is expected to peak at 32¼ft today. (Reuters)