The USDA yesterday lowered its expectations for the US corn crop less than most analysts had expected. The ministry's experts rated yields stable compared to their September estimate, as the vegetation conditions of the past six weeks were good.
Falling demand for corn and a global supply would also keep stocks in the US high. CBoT corn futures prices fell 3.5% yesterday. At the moment, however, prices are already rising by 1.12%.
The US government also lowered its expectation for soybean production, albeit to a level below market expectations. Acreage and yields were both below estimates in September. For example, CBoT soybean futures prices rose 3-4 cents per bushel to $ 9.27 after the report was released. At the moment, the front month is even down to $ 9.33 per bushel.
The US corn crop in 2019/20 was estimated at 13.779 billion bushels. This is based on an average yield of 168.4 bushels per acre (bpa). Soybean production in the US is estimated at 3.55 billion bushels, with an average yield of 46.9 bpa.
Some market participants and analysts had expected lower acres in the run-up to the USDA report; Now they have this expectation for the November report, as currently adverse weather conditions in the Midwest provide for crop damage.
Many US farmers also say that the USDA forecast is too high, government officials' analysts have not taken sufficient account of the difficult weather conditions throughout vegetation conditions.
US corn declines were down 11.9% on the previous month to 1.929 billion bushels as initial stocks were lower.
