The Great Grain Robbery was the July 1973 purchase of 10 million short tons (9.1×106 t) of grain (mainly wheat and corn) from the United States by the Soviet Union at subsidized prices, which caused global grain prices to soar. Crop shortfalls in 1971 and 1972 forced the Soviet Union to look abroad for grain, hoping to prevent famine or other crisis. Soviet negotiators worked out a deal to buy grain on credit, but quickly exceeded their credit limit. American negotiators did not realize that both the Soviets and the world grain market had suffered shortfalls, and thus subsidized the purchase. The strategy backfired and intensified the crisis: global food prices rose at least 30 percent, and grain stockpiles were decimated.