NEW YORK (AP) — Food prices could rise next year because an
unseasonably hot summer likely damaged much of this year’s corn
crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated Monday that a
surplus of 672 million bushels of corn will be left over at the
end of next summer. The estimated surplus is down from last
month’s forecast and well below levels that are considered
healthy. World War II. But high temperatures stunted the plants.
‘‘We just didn’t have a good growing year,’’ said Jason Ward, an
analyst with Northstar Commodity in Minneapolis. ‘‘It was too
hot, too warm, too dry at the wrong time.’’ The price of corn
was relatively unchanged at $7.33 a bushel on Monday. While
that’s down from its peak of $7.99 reached in June, it’s still
nearly twice the price paid last summer. More expensive corn
drives food prices higher because corn is an ingredient in
everything from animal feed to cereal to soft drinks. It takes
about six months for corn prices to trickle down to products at
the grocery store. But many