Midwest Drought Adds to Pain in Grain Markets

Annual crop tour shows many U.S. corn and soybean fields are wilting under extreme heat

By Kirk MaltaisFollow | Photographs by Madeline Cass for The Wall Street Journal

Aug. 26, 2022 5:30 am ET

The outlook for corn yields in Nebraska recently dropped 13%, according to surveys from a closely watched crop tour.

The worst drought in a decade is posing fresh challenges to farmers in the Corn Belt who already are struggling with surging costs, the dark side of a post-Covid commodities boom.

Crop damage from South Dakota and Nebraska to Iowa and Illinois was evident this week in surveys by this year’s Professional Farmers of America Inc. Midwest Crop Tour, in which farmers, traders and others in agricultural industries evaluated corn and soybeans growing in fields across seven states.

Pro Farmer this month cut its outlook for corn yields by 13% in Nebraska and 22% in South Dakota, relative to levels in its survey last year. The reductions helped fuel a rebound in the prices of many grains this past week, adding to the volatility in futures trading on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Tim Gregerson climbed a fence during the Pro Farmer crop tour in Nebraska. With corn withering in the heat, lower yields are predicted.

The Plains drought is only the latest weather-related hit farmers have suffered this year. A string of hailstorms hammered Nebraska crops in June, with hail coverage claims ranking among the most ever seen by crop insurer Rural Community Insurance Services, said Jason Meador, head of the insurer, which is a division of Zurich North America.

In Nebraska, projected crop yields dropped even in fields with irrigation systems, an unusual turn of events that reflects just how hot and dry the weather has been this summer in the Midwest. (Click here to continue to full article.)