Fired by fresh worries about drought, corn powered up 34 cents per
bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade to $7.08, above $7 per bushel for
the first time in a year.
Soybeans climbed 53 cents per bushel to an all-time high of $15.27.
The gains in Iowa’s mainstay crops have been breathtaking as farmers
and traders factor in their fears that the heat and drought in Iowa and
elsewhere in the corn belt will take yields down far below expectations.
As recently as June 1, corn traded for $5.20 per bushel and soybean
at $12.50 per bushel on expectations of big crops that would increase
U.S. domestic stocks and also moderate what has been a two-year record
run of corn and soybean prices.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast a national corn yield
of 166 bushels per acre and a soybean yield of 44 bushels per acre.
Iowa’s yields historically are about ten percent above the national
averages.
But private forecasters have cut their yield predictions for corn to
as low as 148 bushels per acre and soybeans below the USDA projections.
Corn
