Much of the corn crop in Kansas and Missouri has, for the second year in a row, been cooked by dry, hot weather. It could ultimately mean higher prices at the grocery store.

Clint Fletcher is a corn grower who farms in Cherokee County, Kan., as well as in Jasper County. His fields yield 125 to 160 bushels per acre on average in a good year, but this year he expects yields of between 35 and 70 bushels.

Fletcher, who also sells crop insurance, has traveled throughout the region and said much of the corn is in similarly sad shape.

“Overall, from what I see, right now in Missouri — Newton, Barry, those counties there are scorched,” he said. “They are at 20 percent or less of normal crop. Jasper, Barton are probably 40 to 50 percent of normal.”

John Hobbs, a University of Missouri Extension agent in Newton and McDonald counties, said some farmers planted earlier this year because of the warm spring, and they may get 60 to 70 bushels per acre, down from an average of 110 to 120 bushels per acre. Some of the corn that was planted later in the spring will end up being chopped for silage and fed to cattle.

Most farmers have crop insurance, Fletcher said, which will help.

“It is not as good as growing a bumper crop, but it is sufficient for input costs,” he said. “Without crop insurance, we would be in a farm crisis.”

Fletcher said the downturn comes on the heels of a hot, dry summer in 2011 that also caused widespread damage to the corn crop.

“We’re looking at two straight years,” he said. “It’s a pretty good knock in the head.”

Dennis Elbrader, Cherokee County Extension agent, said half of the 55,000 acres of corn in the county this year would be rated “very poor.” Most of that will yield anywhere from zero to 30 bushels, when average yields for the county run at 110 bushels per acre.

In a normal year, 5 percent or less of the corn in the county would be “very poor.”

“No rainfall hurt the corn yield more than anything,” he said. “Since the first of May, a big part of the county has had less than two inches (of rain).”

When corn is putting on ears, an acre needs three-tenths of an inch of water per day, he said.

“Corn is a water-intensive crop when it is at full growth,” Elbrader explained.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported this spring that farmers had planted 96.4 million acres of corn — the highest number of acres since 1937 — expecting growing demand from overseas as well as from a strengthening U.S. economy. That led cattlemen to expect corn prices in the range of $5 a bushel. Corn for cattle feed is one of their key costs.

But now the USDA, which had originally projected a record harvest of 14.79 billion bushels, is forecasting that about 60 percent of the corn grown in the United States faces drought conditions of varying severity.

So instead, corn is selling this week at about $7.50 a bushel, driving up costs for cattlemen as well as for other products that use corn — everything from soda to pancake syrup.

“This is going to be a beef issue, as well as a pork and poultry issue. We’re all sitting here with short breath watching the soybean and corn crops develop this year,” said Michael Miller, the senior vice president of global research for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported this week that nearly one-third of the Kansas corn crop was in poor to very poor condition. The situation is similar in Missouri, where the heat earlier this summer combined with a lack of rain took a toll not just on corn but also on soybeans.

Gary Marshall, executive director of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, said some areas of the state are doing better because they had rain, and some farmers are irrigating, which is saving their crop. He also noted that many farmers are eager to see the results of corn that is genetically altered to be drought-resistant.

Fletcher said that in Southeast Kansas and Southwest Missouri, some corn will be cut for silage. Summer hay production is down and some farmers are selling their cattle to avoid high feed and hay costs. That could bring prices down short term, but not for long.

“It’s actually going to make (cattle and poultry) prices go up in the long term,” Hobbs said. “In the long term, there are fewer cattle out there for next year.”

Added Fletcher: “Higher prices always result in higher groceries.”

But Marshall said corn can’t be blamed for all of the price increases. There is 9 cents worth of corn in a box of cornflakes, he said, and 10 cents worth of corn in a two-liter bottle of pop. Most of the rest of the cost is in packaging, advertising and more. There also is only 39 cents worth of corn in a pound of pork that may sell for $2.50 a pound.

So even if the price of corn doubles — and he doesn’t think it will — it only raises the cost by a few pennies for soda or cornflakes, for example.

“It’s an excuse for the major food companies to raise the price,” he said. “It’s a perfect excuse for them.”



The Associated Press contributed to this report.



Missouri corn

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that nearly 50 percent of the corn in Missouri was rated “poor” or “very poor.”