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JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): The government confirmed today that corn, soybeans, and other crops are among the hardest-hit casualties of the worst drought the country has faced in decades.
The U.S. Agriculture Department today predicted the lowest average corn yield in 15 years. The USDA now projects 10.8 billion bushels of corn to be produced. That is down 17 percent from its forecast just last month of 13 billion bushels. It's a result of severe lack of rainfall, conditions that have spread across even more of the U.S. breadbasket.
Nearly a quarter of the country is experiencing extreme or exceptional drought, according to this week's Drought Monitor report, published by the federal government and the University of Nebraska. Their weekly map shows areas of the worst drought, marked here in red and burgundy, grew by 2 percent from the week before. The drought and drop in corn production will increase food prices here at home and abroad.
Margaret Warner takes it from here.
MARGARET WARNER (Newshour): To better understand this latest news about corn production and the likely impact of the drought on food supplies in the U.S. and around the world, we turn to Ron Nixon, who has been covering this story for The New York Times.
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