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Corn harvest lowered, still on track for a record

Ag/Outdoor

August 13th, 2013 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ā€” The U.S. Department of Agriculture has again lowered its estimate of this year’s corn and soybean harvest, assessing the impact of the wet spring in many states that delayed planting and damaged some crops. Early wet weather worries have rapidly shifted to concerns about the return of drought in portions of the dry western corn belt.

Still, the USDA says in its monthly crop update released Monday that U.S. farmers are on track to bring in the largest corn crop ever this fall and the third largest soybean crop. The department expects a harvest of 13.8 billion bushels of corn, up 28 percent from last year.

Soybean farmers are expected to bring in nearly 3.26 billion bushels, up 8 percent from last year.