CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Less than two months after Midwest farmers watched torrential rains and swollen rivers flood their fields, corn and soybean crops are drying under hot, clear skies.Farmers say they still expect strong crops, particularly considering the wet start. But a hot, dry August will likely take a chunk out of the corn harvest, which is set to start over the next few weeks. And it could hurt the country's production of soybeans, which are still a month or more from harvest.
But economists say that shouldn't pump up grain prices, in part because energy prices have eased, cutting the demand for ethanol. Ethanol production was blamed for part of sharp corn price increases earlier this year that helped fuel food-price inflation.
The country's corn crop is probably as good as it's going to get, University of Illinois agronomist Emerson Nafziger said. That could cut into production that the U.S. Department of Agriculture just three weeks ago said should be a near-record 12.3 billion bushels.
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