Cold weather and frosts are causing problems for farmers in the upper Midwest this month. Farmers planted crops late due to cold and wet spring conditions and are concerned that frost and cold, damp weather could cause reductions in yield due to immaturity. AgWeb posted a story about these problems, which is available here. The corn that is being harvested is much higher in moisture than usual, about 25 percent this year compared to an average of about 20 percent. This will necessitate drying the corn to help prevent spoilage, especially for corn that is going to be stored rather than sold immediately. You can read this AgWeb story here. The news of these problems has increased the price of corn to some extent, but because the national harvest was expected to be near record-setting, overall corn prices are still fairly low.
