Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 195, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 August 1920 — RECORD BREAKING CROP FORECAST [ARTICLE]

RECORD BREAKING CROP FORECAST

A three billion bushel corn crop for the third time in the history of the country was forecast yesterday by the department of agriculture on the basis of conditions existing August 1. Inasmuch as August is the critical month for the crop in the great corn belt of the middle west it is uncertain whether the promise of a crop almost equal to the enormous ones of 1912 and 1917 will be fulfilled. Improvement was reported during July in the important; corn states with the exception of Illinois and as a result a crop forecast 224,000,000 bushels larger than that predicted July 1 was issued. , ' Spring wheat was adversely affected during July, principally by rust and the production forecast of the crop was reduced 29,000,000 bushels from a month ago or*a total of 262,000,000 bushels. The preliminary estimate of jwi“ter wheat production was -15,000,000 bushels larger thhn forecast in July, making the combined crop of winter and spring wheat only 14,000,000 bushels smaller, than estimated a month .ago. The total of 795,000,000 bushels was predicted in todays report. There was improvement in the potato crop and indications are that the crop will exceed J 00,000,000 bushels for the fourth time m the country’s history.