CHICAGO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. corn and soybean harvest will be smaller than the government is predicting due to the devastating drought that crippled crop production across the Midwest, Pro Farmer said on Friday.
The farm newsletter predicted U.S. corn production at 10.478 billion bushels, based on a yield of 120.25 bushels per acre. That compares with the U.S. Agriculture Department's latest forecast of a 10.779 billion bushel crop on a yield of 123.4 bushels per acre.
Soybean production was seen at 2.60 billion bushels on a yield of 34.8 bushels per acre, Pro Farmer said. Earlier this month, USDA pegged the soybean harvest at 2.692 billion bushels and yield at 36.1 bushels per acre.
If the forecast is realized, both crops would be the smallest since 2003. The low yields promise to tighten up world supplies and add to food inflation around the world.
Pro Farmer released its estimate following its annual crop tour, which surveyed more than 2,200 corn and soybean fields in Midwest states that accounted for 73 percent of U.S. corn production in 2011 and 66 percent of soybean production.
In Iowa, the top producer of both corn and soybeans, Pro Farmer pegged corn yields at 139 per bushels per acre as the corn went through its yield-determining phase of growth in scorching temperatures and parched soils.
"Iowa’s early start to the growing season turned into a mid-season nightmare for corn trying to pollinate and fill kernels," a Pro Farmer news release said.
Soybean yields in Iowa were forecast at 41 bushels per acre. Pro Farmer said the state's soybeans were the "least bad" of the western Corn Belt.
Corn and soybean prices rose this week -- with soybeans posting a 5.2 percent gain -- as reports from the tour trickled in, underlining the damage done by the worst drought in more than half a century.
