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August 17, 2012--Impact of U.S. drought on crops may be peaking, Vilsack says (Washington Post)

The severity of the worst U.S. drought in 56 years may be peaking, while its effects on corn and soybeans, the nation’s two biggest crops, may not be known until the harvests, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. The steadying of weather conditions may limit food inflation next year, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted last month would be 3 percent to 4 percent, Vilsack said yesterday in an interview at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. It may also ease pressure to relax federal requirements for the use of corn to make ethanol, he said. “The overall impact of the drought is beginning to decline,” Vilsack said. The uneven effects of the persistent dryness, which vary from farm to farm, make any crop predictions difficult, he said. “I’m not sure we know all we need to know to understand what’s happening with this crop.”

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