By Patrick Thomas July 2, 2023 9:00 am ET The Wall Street Journal
The most widespread drought in a decade is dividing the U.S. farm sector into winners and losers.
With more than half of U.S. corn and soybean acreage facing drought conditions, some farmers are calculating whether insurance payments will cover the cost of the crops they have sown this year. As of June 27, 65% of the Midwest was in a moderate drought or worse, the broadest area in a decade, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said 70% of the country’s corn production area and 63% of soybeans were affected by drought. The five-year average for U.S. corn in drought before this year is 18%, according to federal data, and 15% for soybeans.
In Coal Valley, Ill., where Megan Dwyer’s family raises corn, soybeans and beef cattle on 700 acres, the fate of the farm’s year depends on how much rain falls over the next few weeks. “With the drought, we might not even have a crop to sell this year,” said Dwyer, a fourth-generation farmer, at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum event in late June. “We’re already losing yield.”
Around a third of winter wheat grown in the U.S. is expected to be abandoned, according to federal data, because the poor quality isn’t worth the cost to harvest it this year. That would represent the highest rate of abandonment since 1917.
Some livestock producers and meat companies are bracing for higher feed bills that could follow a smaller-than-expected harvest. (Visit The Wall Street Journal for the full article.)
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