This Week's Showers May Be Too Late to Save Some Crops

By CnAgri2012-07-26 19:15:43 Print

Welcome rains provided some relief to heat-stressed cities and worried farmers in the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday, but reports of failed crops, wildfires and other fallout from the worst U.S. drought in more than 50 years tempered any optimism. The first soaking rains for weeks in parts of the northern Midwest sent U.S. corn and soybean prices sharply lower. But those prices still hover around record highs with weather forecasts for August indicating more heat is on the way.

According to Reuters, more rain is forecast for the next 10 days across northern Midwest crop areas, while the southern half will remain dry. Forecasts also called for the central and southern Midwest to remain hot the next two weeks.

"One set of rainstorms does not put us out of danger in a drought," said agriculture economist Jim Robb. "We have already set huge declines in corn and soybean yields, even if it rains every day for the balance of the growing season."

Only a quarter of the U.S. corn crop is now rated in good to excellent condition, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. That is the worst condition at this key stage of the growing season since the 1988 drought which caused more than $40 billion worth of damage and created havoc in domestic and world food markets.

Crop scouts in Indiana and Ohio this week found fields of short, wilted corn stalks with no ears of grain. In a normal year, corn plants would be lush, green and six feet tall.

Severe damage has also been reported in Iowa and Illinois, which alone produce about a third of U.S. corn and soybeans. The knock-on effect from the losses is already being seen around the world since the United States is the world's single largest exporter of corn, soybeans and wheat.

Last year, 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop was used to produce the fuel. Corn is also the basic livestock feed in many nations and has hundreds of other uses.