Poor Iowa Corn Crop Could Mean More Food Inflation

No pressure, Iowa. The future of prices we pay for certain products at the grocery store might just depend on the quality of our corn harvest this fall. And according to officials on a tour of Iowa cornfields, the results are not great.

A national crop tour looked at cornfields across the state of Iowa last week, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Words used to describe what they say included "underwhelming" and "disappointing". While corn in parts of northeast Iowa looked promising, the heat and dry growing conditions have really hurt crops in almost every other region of the state. In fact, the Gazette reports that most fields were in worse shape than they were last summer.

When it comes to corn, Iowa is king. Our output is critical for the U.S., the world's top corn producer, and exporter. Without a bumper crop in the Hawkeye state, the Gazette reports that it is unlikely that crops in other areas of the nation will be able to make up for the loss felt here in Iowa. That could add up to a production deficit and feed the inflation problem we're already experiencing at the store.

The key issue in most areas facing lower yields? Drought. Western Iowa has been hit hard the past two growing seasons by drought conditions. Even in Eastern Iowa where fields have seen more rain, yields were seen as average at best, according to the Gazette. Officials said that they don't believe that production in Eastern Iowa will be enough to make up for the losses out West.