In a surprise and unexpected move, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Reuters that he was extending the grain export ban until 2011. "I would like to note that lifting of the export ban can only be considered after next year's crops have harvested," Putin said according to Reuters.

Russia is now suffering through its worst drought in nearly 100 years. Grain harvest have been cut by two thirds, down to 60-65 million tons from 97 million tons in 2009.

This a story about rumor and weather. Wheat prices have skyrocketed to within 16 cents of their 2009 high, closing at $6.61 per bushel. The 2009 high was $6.77. Prices have surged 56% from their June lows.

You are no doubt asking: "Why such a big jump in prices?" The key word is drought, specifically the drought in the major growing areas of Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere in the Black Sea area. The drought is so bad that rumors are flying that Russia will limit wheat exports, driving purchasers to the U.S. According to Macquarie Group, parts of Europe also have been hit with drought, and Canada had excessive rain at planting time.

Statistics on global warming have raised worries over China's largest freshwater lake, located in the southeastern province of Jiangxi.

Since the summer, Poyang Lake's surface area has dropped to 50 square kilometers from its initial surface of more than 3,000. A key element of these changes is a huge fluctuation from the summer flood season to the winter dry period. According to the Jiangxi hydrological bureau, the area of the lake was 10 times larger last winter, with a surface covering 300 to 500 square kilometers.

Statistics showed that the water level approached its lowest level ever in early December, when it hit less than eight meters deep. If we take into account forecasts showing that the current dry season will last until March, and the fact that people in the region haven't seen so little rainfall since 1960, we may see another record of the water level pretty soon.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has also offered a pessimistic forecast and anticipates the winter drought will continue for the next 10 years.

As I mentioned in my recent Investing in Georgia post, the "Empire State of the South" has a diverse industrial output that ranges from peaches and peanuts to aircraft manufacturing and tourism (much of which is taking a hit from this year's severe drought in the South).

Georgia is home to such corporate giants as Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), and the state also has just been named the second-best U.S. state in which to do business by Site Selection magazine. Georgia has been in the top four on that list for the past four years.

The Peach State is also home to Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) and Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), which I examined previously, as well as RPC Inc. (NYSE: RES) and Radiant Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: RADS), covered here. RPC and Radiant both made Fortune's 2007 list of the 100 fastest growing companies in U.S. It was Radiant's first time on that list, and Radiant has also been named one of the fastest growing tech companies in Georgia for the third straight year.

The price of wheat says it all. Terrible drought conditions in Australia and poor supplies from Canada are driving prices for the crop through the roof.

This is occurring while demand is soaring as Iraq recently imported 700,000 tonnes and Algeria took in 100,000.

While prices are also being impacted by typical seasonal demand, there are plenty of buyers who put off purchases waiting for prices to moderate, which could keep prices high for awhile.

However, with that said, this is one commodity where the rug will be pulled out from under investors' feet. This looks like a short to this blogger.