By Chuck Abbott
Successful Farming
With exports in doubt because of hurricane damage to grain elevators near New Orleans, prices for corn, soybeans, and wheat, the most widely planted U.S. crops, fell to their lowest levels in several weeks in futures trading on Tuesday. The fall harvest will begin soon and could glut the U.S. market if foreign sales are disrupted.
Cargill reported “significant damage” to an elevator about 30 miles upstream on the Mississippi River from New Orleans; Cargill has another elevator near New Orleans. Exporter CHS said its grain facility may lack power for weeks while Bunge and ADM were assessing damage to their export facilities, reported Reuters. About 60% of U.S. corn and soybean exports are shipped from the Gulf Coast, it said.