Bumper crop of Ohio corn this year means lower prices for consumers; other crops also thriving

Ohio's bumper crop of corn this year means lower prices at the supermarket and vegetable stands.

The high corn yields from this year and last year are forcing a drop in prices not seen in the past five years. That's not so good for farmers, but consumers are benefiting.

Per-bushel corn prices have dropped 38 percent since last July, John Miyares, a statistician with the National Agricultural Statistics Service's Great Lakes Regional Field Office, told The Dayton Daily News (http://bit.ly/1nN5pZm ).

The $4.37-per-bushel price last week was the lowest in five years. Miyares says prices of other crops have fallen sharply as well, with soybeans trading at near 2½-year lows and wheat at near four-year lows.

"(Corn) prices were artificially high in the past few years," said Jeff Wuebkur, who farms corn, soybeans, and livestock in Darke County, northwest of Dayton. "Crops were good last year, and this year they're just as good. There's more corn and more beans than ever."

Nationally, corn has the potential to reach 2003's record of nearly 14 billion bushels, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its midyear report.

High corn prices the past few years have meant high meat prices in grocery stores since 2012. The sudden decline in corn prices may create a price drop for meat prices in the next two years, according to Sam Custer, an Ohio State University extension outreach coordinator.

Low corn prices will impact other commodities, including farmland, with prices expected to drop, Custer said.

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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com