Friday, August 10, 2012

Grim News: Huge Drought Leads to Worst Fears for Corn Crop


From CNBC: The worst fears for the U.S. corn crop are being realized, as the government now expects the lowest yield in 17 years and a total crop about a third smaller than what was projected at the start of the growing season.

With corn prices at a record, the shrinking crop has significant implications for global food supply and consumers, as the livestock industry, food processors and ethanol producers respond to less supply at higher prices. New crop (December) corn futures hit a high of $8.34 per bushel overnight, and corn has increased nearly 50 percent since the beginning of June. On Friday, corn was trading off its highs in late morning, and soybean prices were up about 1.5 percent.

"We had our second worst drought in almost 30 years this year. The market's reacted and the market will be able to recover and get back to normal pricing but not until the middle of next year," said Rich Nelson, director of research at Allendale. "For the general consumers, (it means) higher meat prices, higher dairy and higher egg prices…."

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