Moscow , Russia ( CNN ) -- As Russia reels from the worst drought in nearly 40 years , Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ban on grain exports . `` I think it is expedient to temporarily ban exports of grain and grain products from Russia , '' Putin said in a government meeting Thursday . Putin spokesman Dmitry Pskov confirmed to CNN that the ban would be from August 15 through December 1 . Russia is the world 's third largest wheat exporter , but is facing the possibility of wheat shortages . The drought has forced the country 's Agriculture Ministry to slash its grain forecast from 90 million tons to between 70 and 75 million tons . Grain prices have been rising everywhere recently , according to the United States Department of Agriculture 's Wheat Year in Review Report for 2008-2009 , the most recent available . Because adverse weather lowered wheat production in 2007-2008 , there was a global price spike that year , the report states . Many wheat-producing countries harvested large amounts of wheat in 2008 , taking advantage of the record-high prices and good weather . After a sharp drop in monthly prices in October 2008 , wheat prices continued rising . The all-wheat season average hit a record-high of $ 6.78 per bushel in the United States in 2009 . The world set a record at 25.1 billion bushels of wheat produced that year . `` U.S. and world wheat prices soared , '' the report states . Eventually , the demand for U.S. wheat began exceeding the supply , further contributing to high costs . CNN 's Emily Evans contributed to this report .
The Russian government has banned grain exports until December 1 . The drought is the country 's worst in nearly 40 years . Russia is the world 's 3rd largest exporter of wheat .