"The drought that ravaged U.S. corn and soybean crops and spurred record prices may persist, threatening a recovery in production this year that’s needed to bolster global inventories, according to forecasters."

"'Unless there’s a sudden change to very wet conditions, it sure looks like drought is going to be a feature going into the planting season, spring at least,' Bryce Anderson, an agricultural meteorologist at DTN, said in a phone interview from Omaha, Nebraska yesterday. DTN provides weather information on agricultural markets. 'In the 1930s, there was a period of four or five years when drought was a feature,' Anderson said.

The worst U.S. drought since the 1930s last year lifted corn and soybeans to all-time highs, driving up food costs and prompting South American growers to boost plantings. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said on Dec. 11 that there was a 'growing risk' output may disappoint again in 2013, forecasting higher prices. The U.S. is the largest grower of corn and second- largest of soybeans, and Chicago futures are global benchmarks."
 
Luzi Ann Javier reports for Bloomberg January 9, 2013.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-09/u-s-drought-persisting-seen-as-threat-to-corn-soybean-crops.html [2]