Slight Inflation From Damaged Crops Predicted
Harvests of Midwestern corn and soybeans will be down sharply this fall but food prices should not rise significantly, the federal government said Wednesday as it quantified the damage from the summer’s record rain and floods.
But with ample stockpiles from last year’s record harvest, food prices should not rise much and overall inflation should barely tick higher, government officials said.
The Agriculture Department, in its first predictions based on field inspections, projected:
* Production of corn is expected to be 7.42 billion bushels. That is down 5% from last month’s projection and down 22% from last year’s crop.
* The 1993-94 soybean crop is forecast at 1.9 billion bushels, 4% below last month’s indication and 13% below the 1992-93 harvest.
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