Washington - Despite a hurricane that
10/12/2005

Washington - Despite a hurricane that flattened sugar cane fields last month in Louisiana and drought that persisted in the Plains, weather has failed to slow the nation's corn, rice, soybean and cotton crops, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday.

AP via Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CROP_REPORT?SITE=WIMIL&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The forecast for most crops improved over September projections in the monthly crop report. Cane sugar production is expected to drop, and slight decreases are projected for wheat, beef and pork.

The cane sugar forecast is for 90,000 fewer tons, but the news wasn't bad for all cane growers. While Hurricane Rita hindered production in Louisiana, growers got a boost in Florida from plentiful rainfall in Lake Okeechobee.

The corn crop is expected to be the second-largest on record. Analysts increased their forecast by 218 million bushels over last month to 10.9 billion bushels. The increase pushed price estimates down 5 cents from last month to $1.65 to $2.05 a bushel. That compares with $2.06 last year.

The rice crop also is expected to be the second-biggest ever, despite a 5.1 million hundredweight drop from September's forecast to 223 million hundredweight. Prices should range from $7.45 to $7.75 per hundredweight, up 20 cents from last month. Last year's average was $7.33.

For soybeans, the forecast is for nearly 3 billion bushels, up 111 million bushels over the September projection. Prices should range from $5 to $5.80, a drop from last month's $5.15 to $6.05. Last year's average was $5.74.

The cotton forecast improved 2 percent over last month to 22.7 million bales, mostly because of higher production in Texas.

Producers are expected to grow less wheat than they did last year; analysts lowered their forecast by 69 million bushels to about 2 billion bushels for 2006. That's down from a record-setting 2.16 billion bushels in 2005. Prices are forecast at $3.20 to $3.60 a bushel, up from $3 to $3.40 last month. The 2005 price was $3.40.

For livestock, lower-than-expected slaughter and marketing in the past three months reduced the forecast for beef and pork, and the forecast dropped for chicken production because of slower-than-expected growth, the department said.

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