SHADOW CROP: Cornfields in the U.S. look healthy to the casual observer, but husks are pulled back on many stalks, the husks are empty. During the worst drought in a quarter century, many farmers are mowing down fields to use what is left for animal feed.
DEVASTATION SEWN WIDELY: Almost a third of the nation’s corn crop is already showing signs of damage. The U.S. Department of Agriculture just released yet another report predicting that farmers will get only a fraction of the corn anticipated last spring when they planted 96.4 million acres, the most since 1937.
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YOUR POCKET: This may hit you in the budget. The cost of meat is most likely to be affected because corn is used to feed cattle. Those prices are already high after a drought in Texas forced ranchers to reduce their herds. But corn is also used in everything from corn flakes and ketchup, to bread and soft drinks. A rule of thumb is that food prices typically climb about 1 percent for every 50 percent increase in corn prices.
