Record corn harvest underway as farmers brace for lower prices

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  Corn Belt

  From WATTAgNet:
  As farmers in the Corn Belt gear up for record harvest thanks to near-perfect weather, they brace for a financial hit as a result of falling prices over recent months.
  “The overall picture from the USDA report is that the harvest is progressing very well and if that continues, we are only going to see lower prices,” said Phin Ziebell, Agribusiness Economist at National Australia Bank.
  Recent U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates show the corn harvest was about 24 percent complete and 74 percent of the crop was in good to excellent condition.
  The week of October 13, corn prices fell from a five-week high. Corn for December delivery fell 1 percent to $3.535 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).
  Agriculture economists already are estimating how many acres of corn are needed in 2015. A University of Illinois expert says “one way to approach the question of how many corn acres are needed in 2015 is to determine the combination of production, consumption, and year-ending stocks that would result in a 2015-16 marketing year average farm price closer to the cost of production, estimated to be in the low $4-range (assuming trend yields) in much of the Corn Belt.”