Corn, soy and wheat ease from record highs as US crops face heat

Chicago corn and soy slid today after marking record highs last week, tracking declines in broader markets as worries on Europe's debt woes festered, though relentless heat in the US grain belt continued to destroy crops.

Soy beans have dropped 2.2%, corn hit lows 2.4% and wheat descended 3.1% in today’s trade.

Hotter-than-normal temperatures were expected through October in most of the contiguous 48 states, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, and did not rule out drought continuing past October.

It said there was a chance of the El Nino weather anomaly which could mean more excessive heat and dryness by the end of 2012. El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific.

United State’s corn and soybean belt in the middle is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades.