The nation’s worst drought in decades showed no signs of improvement last week in parts of the Midwest and Plains where the corn harvest is about two-thirds complete, clouding the prospects for the winter wheat crop, according to a drought report released Oct. 11.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly update, showing that nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states remained mired in some form of drought, was released the same day the federal government lowered for the fourth month in a row its projection for the size of this year’s corn crop.
The USDA now estimates that farmers will harvest 10.71 billion bushels of corn, down from last month’s estimate of 10.73 billion bushels. The average yield is about 122 bushels per acre, off from July’s projection of 122.8 bushels.
The dry conditions remained unchanged in Iowa, the nation’s biggest corn producer, with three-fourths of the state still in the extreme or exceptional drought
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