Crop Outlook Dimming as July Heat Compounded Drought Damage
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U.S. corn farmers hurt by the worst drought in a generation probably will harvest smaller crops than the government forecast this month, based an analysis of dry spells in the past 42 years.
In the five drought years since 1970, farmers on average harvested 85.4 percent of the acres planted, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. That’s below the 90.6 percent that the USDA predicted for this year on Aug. 10, when the agency cut its output forecast by 17 percent following the hottest July since