U.S. crop damage from weather tops $8 billion
Pastor Dale Morgan
U.S. crop damage from weather tops $8 billion*
25 Jun 2008 16:04:00 GMT
Source: Reuters
By K.T. Arasu
CHICAGO, June 25 (Reuters) - From the worst floods in the Midwest grain
belt in 15 years to drought in California, damage to crops from
inclement weather has topped $8 billion so far this year, the largest
U.S. farm group said on Wednesday.
The damage could rise or contract, depending on weather conditions for
the rest of the growing season in the United States, the world's top
exporter of corn, soybeans and wheat, the American Farm Bureau
Federation said.
The flood damage in the Midwest over the past two weeks has lifted
prices for U.S. corn, used for food, renewable fuel ethanol and animal
feed, to a record high above $7 a bushel, up about 85 percent since the
end of 2006 as of Wednesday.
The AFBF said leading farm state Iowa accounted for about half of the
damage.
"Wet weather and flooding create issues, as farmers are unable to plant
their crops," said AFBF senior economist Terry Francl. "The crops they
do plant do not sprout and grow, resulting in few acres harvest."
"Additionally, the difficult growing conditions greatly reduce the yield
of the crop that is harvested," he added.
Francl said he expected Iowa corn yields could fall by 16 percent this
year and that 1.5 million to 2 million acres of corn and soybeans in the
state that farmers intended to plant this spring will likely remain fallow.
AFBF said this would result in an estimated loss of $4 billion to Iowa's
crops, and that other states taking a hit from excessive wet weather and
flooding are Illinois with $1.3 billion, Missouri $900 million, Indiana
$500 million and Nebraska $500 million.
It said an additional $1 billion in losses were expected in other states
where conditions remained wet.
The U.S. Agriculture Department will provide some insight into the
extent of crop damage from the floods when it issues its report Monday
on how many acres farmers will plant with major crops, including corn
and soy, this year.
The AFBF said some states were experiencing dry weather, with drought
taking a toll in several Western and Southeastern states. It said
northern California battled the driest spring in its history, and as a
whole the state suffered $500 million in estimated damage.
AFBF said on a national basis, the corn yield is likely to decline some
eight to 10 bushels per acre from the 2008 trend line, mostly due to
inclement weather.
The national soybean average yield is also likely to be down one to two
bushels per acre from the current U.S. Agriculture Department projection
of 42 bushels per acre.
AFBF said the damage estimate is based on the assumption that weather
conditions will be normal for the remainder of the growing season,
adding that varying weather conditions later in the season could cause
the estimate to grow or contract. (Reporting by K.T. Arasu, editing by
Matthew Lewis)