Bad corn crop means higher food prices

Daily Herald
Article posted: 11/13/2011 5:56 AM
By Bloomberg News

U.S. farmers are reaping their smallest corn harvest in three years after drought damaged what was a record crop, driving annual prices to an all-time high and curbing an expansion in global food supplies.

The government forecast production of 314.7 million metric tons, 27.4 million tons less than four months ago, the average estimate of 30 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg showed. The cut is equal to output in Argentina, the second- biggest exporter.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture already expected a third annual drop in global corn stockpiles and the first in soybean inventories in three years, offset by an expansion in wheat reserves to the largest in a decade.

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