Corn Yields Hit 17-Year Low

Higher prices, ahoy.

With the worst drought in a half century decimating crops in the United States, the government on Friday slashed its estimate of the annual corn yield by about 17 percent in the last month to the lowest level since 1995.

The crop will fail to replenish already-thinned commodity stockpiles and will translate into higher prices for goods like processed food, animal feed and ethanol, analysts said.