We also covered the fires engulfing major food distributors in the U.S. Shanghai, the world's busiest port, has been locked down, with no end in sight. And, inexplicably, Union Pacific has mandated a 20% volume reduction for its freight cars that should be moving fertilizer around the country this time of year.

Add to this the apocalyptic drought in the Western U.S. and rampant inflation, and it's easy to get overwhelmed at the thought of what will happen this growing season. However, it's still early in the growing season, and it's still too soon to despair.

But we should be planning for a rough couple of years ahead.

Bartering will come back with a vengeance. The dollar may not be the world's reserve currency that much longer. Between pumping trillions of dollars into the system over the past two years and trying to use the dollar to isolate the Russians, even CNN admits the dollar is in trouble. Our government is far too interested in centralized digital currencies for my personal comfort.

We need other options, and sooner rather than later.