German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of the passengers stranded as much of Europe and the UK remain a no-fly zone after a massive cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland caused European air traffic control officials to cancel roughly 17,0000 flights with more “significant” disruptions in air traffic expected tomorrow. This is one of the most extensive disruptions of commercial flights since World War Two. For those readers who are stranded owing to the flight mayhem, I hope you are comfortable and can make the best of your down time. It is extraordinary to consider how the unexpected, an eruption of volcanic ash in Iceland, can have such profound consequences. Agricultural economists are already forecasting the impact of the volcanic ash on grocery food prices in the spring months.