DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is rating 81 percent of Iowa's corn crop as good or excellent, according to the agency's weekly crop report.
That's a jump of 21 percentage points from last year, and the rating has lowered prices.
Commodity traders, concerned about an excess of corn, have reduced its price from $4.40 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade last month to $3.77 per bushel on Monday.
Roger Elmore, an Iowa State University agronomist, says this year's Iowa corn crop is way ahead of last year, when floods ripped through the state.
Elmore says some tasseling has already begun in southwest Iowa, which received less rain than other areas in the last 30 days.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
