Richard Ha writes:
Our country’s corn crop is at risk due to the recent/current drought in the Midwest. The consequence is going to be rising food costs.
More about it here at Huffington Post:
Corn pushes higher as crops shrivel in heat wave
Sandy Shore | July 12, 2012 04:40 PM EST |
The price of corn jumped 4 percent Thursday as crops continue to shrivel in a relentless heat wave across much of the country.
December corn futures rose 28.25 cents to end at $7.3225 per bushel. That’s the highest price since August.
About 30 percent of the crop is in poor to very poor condition, compared with just 9 percent in that shape a year ago.
The outlook isn’t encouraging, either. The chance of precipitation is below normal for some Midwestern states over the next several days, according to an Accuweather.com forecast. Analysts have said that the corn crop could sustain additional damage without significant moisture in the near future.
The U.S. Agriculture Department predicted Wednesday that this year’s harvest would be 12 percent smaller than it had forecast in June because of damage to crops from the persistently hot, dry weather. Read the rest here