Birds on the Brain

With the worst drought in a half century decimating crops in the United States, the government on Friday slashed its estimate of the annual corn yield in the last month by 15.5 percent to the lowest level since 1995.

The crop will fail to replenish already-thinned commodity stockpiles and will translate into higher prices for goods like processed food, animal feed and ethanol, analysts said.

“It’s scary when you see the numbers out today,” said Terry Roggensack, an analyst at the Hightower Report in Chicago. “Unless there is normal weather and rain from here on out, I can easily see prices for corn and soybeans” rising another 20 to 25 percent.