U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions from the news media after delivering remarks on administration plans to fight inflation and lower costs during a speech in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building's South Court Auditorium at the White House in W
U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions from the news media after delivering remarks on administration plans to fight inflation and lower costs during a speech in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building's South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, U. Reuters / LEAH MILLIS

U.S. President Joe Biden will seek to highlight how Russia's war on Ukraine has impacted global food prices during a visit to an Illinois farm on Wednesday.

He will also announce new measures to support U.S. farmers, including increasing the number of counties eligible for double cropping insurance and boosting funding for domestic fertilizer production, according to the White House.

Biden is struggling to rein in inflation on many fronts. U.S. gas prices hit record highs on Tuesday, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls "a special military operation", dramatically worsened the outlook for food prices.

Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat and barley, and two-thirds of the world's exports of sunflower oil used for cooking.

Biden is "going to talk about the support we need to continue to give to farmers to help continue to produce more and more domestically to help address the food shortages that we're seeing in some parts of the world," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.

Biden will also speak at the 40th International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International Convention. He is expected to affirm his support for unions, infrastructure investments and the energy industry, Psaki said.