Drink more sake?

Step away from the bottle of Yellow Tail. The long drought in Australia isn't the only reason for the country's rice shortages. Grapes are a culprit, too.

On the Center for Rural Affairs' blog, amid a discussion of food vs. fuel, rural organizer Dan Owens wrote yesterday:

"The staple receiving the most media coverage (think food riots) is rice -- and very little of that is traded on the world market (only about 8% of global production). Rice prices are much more local/regional. A severe drought in Australia combined with a shift towards grape production has had a big impact on Asian rice prices."

Indeed, between 1996 and 2006, Australia doubled the amount of land devoted to vineyards. According to a story by Keith Bradsher in the New York Times last week, "Australia's total rice capacity has declined by about a third because many farmers have permanently sold water rights, mostly for grape production.

"All told, wine grapes produce a pretax profit of close to $2,000 an acre while rice produces a pretax profit around $240 an acre," the story continues.

You can't blame farmers for following the money. But Australia depends on exports for 60 percent of its wine sales. And without demand for wine, grapes aren't profitable. So maybe we should all start drinking more sake?

Doing a rain dance or two couldn't hurt, either.