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 WASHINGTON (AP) - The government raised its estimate of the size of this year's corn and soybean crops and predicted prices will continue to drop, further stressing farmers whose production costs have soared along with energy prices.
In the monthly crop report issued Thursday, department analysts raised the forecast for corn production by 175 million bushels to 11.032 billion bushels and said prices should be $1.60 to $2 per bushel, down 5 cents from last month's estimate. The average price last year was $2.06.
The soybean crop should top 3 billion bushels, an increase of 76 million over last month's estimate, the department said. Prices should be $4.95 to $5.75, down 5 cents from last month's estimate, according to the report. Last year's price averaged $5.74.
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