News
USDA cuts corn crop guess on weather woes
The USDA has slashed it’s 2019 corn production estimate because of widespread planting delays caused by heavy rainfall and flooding in key U.S. growing areas.
As of June 1st, the crop is projected at 13.680 billion bushels, down 1.35 billion from May’s report, with the USDA lowering planted and harvested acreage expectations by 3 million acres each and reducing the yield guess ten bushels to 166 bushels per acre. Planted area is now seen at 89.8 million acres with harvested area of 82.4 million. If realized, that would pull new crop ending stocks to 1.675 billion, but support the average estimated farm price, with the USDA raising the projection $.50 on the month to $3.80 per bushel. The USDA also lowered 2019/20 feed and residual use, and exports expectations for corn, while raising imports and beginning, or 2018/19 ending, stocks.
The USDA left soybean production estimates
unchanged, for now, with a crop of 4.15 billion bushels, an average yield of
49.5 bushels per acre, and planted and harvested area of 84.6 million and 83.8
million acres, respectively. The USDA did push new crop beginning stocks above
a billion bushels, while leaving exports unchanged and increasing the average
estimated farm price by $.15 to $8.25.
As
of Sunday, 83% of this year’s U.S. corn crop and 60% of soybeans are planted,
both historically slow. Emergence is also behind average and the first U.S.
corn condition rating of the year was the lowest in nearly two decades.
