Record corn harvest predicted for Iowa
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is predicting the second-largest corn crop, with record harvests anticipated in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota, according to a release. The USDA raised its estimate for this year’s corn harvest to 14.8 billion bushels, an increase of 241 million bushels from last month’s forecast. The record corn crop of 15.1 bushels was set in 2016. The national average corn yield is now estimated at 181.3 bushels. Feed and residual use and export demand projections were raised by 50 million bushels each, with ethanol demand estimates raised by 25 million bushels. As the increase to production projections more than offset these demand increases, the average farm price was decreased by 10 cents, with the new price range projected as $3 to $4 per bushel.