Corn Futures Rise for Fourth Straight Week

Corn futures in Chicago rose for the fourth week in a row as the drought in the Midwest continues to devastate the corn crop. Weather projections hold out little relief for the key corn production areas of the region.

Corn for December delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade climbed to $7.47 a bushel, up 2 percent, as of 2:00 PM London.

Since the middle of June corn prices have soared 48 percent, and have already jumped 18 percent in July.

According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, parts of the Midwest which stood at 53 percent moderate to extreme drought last week, have grown to 63 percent as of July 10.

As for corn ratings, every day the drought continues, the quality of the corn drops by a little over 1 percent.

This week the U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed its corn yield estimates to 12.97 billion bushels, down significantly from June's estimate of 14.79 bushels. That will be significantly downwardly revised if the weather patterns hold.

Globally, in June the corn yields for 2012 were cut from 949.9 million tons to 905.2 million tons.