Tagged: corn

The U.S. Agriculture Department is predicting what could be the lowest average corn yield in more than 15 years as the worst drought in decades scorches major farm states.

Garry Niemeyer farms 1,200 acres of corn and 800 acres of soybeans near Auburn, Ill. He says he's "totally stunned" to have corn with green stalks and leaves after going through weeks of 105-degree temperatures.

Dry conditions are expected to get worse in the coming days, and it will take a whole lot more than scattered thunderstorms to break the drought. 

“We’re way, way, way below normal in rainfall,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Fred Glass said.  “Most of the area is in severe drought conditions, it’s going to quite a bit of rain to make that up, probably in many areas 8-12 inches, and in some areas in excess of 12 inches.”

Insect scientists say federal regulators need to take action against a growing pest problem in biotech corn.

They say corn rootworm has started to become resistant to Monsanto's Bt corn, which is genetically engineered to resist the damaging and costly pest.

The 22 scientists expressed their concerns in a letter sent to EPA earlier this week. 

University of Illinois insect behaviorist Joseph Spencer was one of them.