AGRICULTURE
U.S. corn acreage to surge
From South Dakota to Ohio, farmers are preparing to plant the most corn in almost eight decades after drought ruined record U.S. harvests predicted by the government.
“Farmers are looking for every acre possible to plant this year,” said Bill Bayliss, 67, who is expanding acreage by 10 percent on land he farms in West Mansfield, Ohio, where drought conditions have disappeared. “The price is attractive, and we have seen an improvement in soil moisture.”
Corn acreage in the United States, the world’s top grower and exporter, will be the largest since 1936, yielding an all-time high of 13.863 billion bushels at harvest should weather conditions improve, the average of 17 analysts’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey shows. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted output will jump 34 percent to a record 14.53 billion. Futures contracts show traders expect corn prices to fall 19 percent by December to $5.585 as supply grows after the harvest.
While adverse weather the past three years prompted the USDA to back off predictions made in May before planting started, corn prices that are higher than 2012’s record average mean the crop remains profitable for farmers.
LEGAL
Tim Durham gets lawyer
Tim Durham, convicted in the $200 million Fair Finance Co. fraud and who says he is now broke, is being represented for free, according to an Indianapolis media report.
A criminal defense attorney at the Chicago firm Kirkland & Ellis is representing Durham as he appeals his conviction of last year. Durham is serving a 50-year prison term for bilking about 5,300 Ohio residents out of more than $200 million they invested in the Akron-based Fair Finance, a now-bankrupt consumer loan and accounts receivables company.
Durham is now being represented pro bono, or for free, by James H. Matchnik of Kirkland & Ellis, the report said. Kirkland & Ellis has more than 1,400 lawyers, making it the world’s 13th largest law firm, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.
Compiled from wire reports