USDA Reports
Farmers across the Texas High Plains received a deluge of rainfall right at planting, and while the moisture was needed, the sudden switch prevented some farmers from planting their intended cotton acres this year.
USDA released a few big surprises in the June acreage report, including a spike in corn acres and a large reduction in soybean acres. The agency also forecasts grain stocks below trade expectations.
USDA’s June Acreage and Quarterly Stocks reports resulted in a bullish surprise for soybeans and bearish news for corn. In an already volatile grain market, the supply situation is problematic.
Sluggish exports continue to be the main theme in the grain markets with USDA cutting both old and new crop ending stocks. Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group says the bigger story moving forward might be soft corn demand.
Jon Scheve discusses how attainable the USDA’s numbers are from the last report.
Jon Scheve provides historical background of changes in corn and bean acres between planting intentions surveys and final report trends.
USDA’s 2023 Prospective Plantings report released March 31 shows farmers intend to plant significantly more corn acres in 2023. At nearly 92 million acres, that’s a jump of 3.42 million acres from last year.
Just ahead of USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, the largest cotton growing state in the U.S. is seeing another year of drought, and with fields resembling the Dust Bowl, crop prospects are dwindling by the day.
Farmers around the Corn Belt are anticipating a big year for corn, especially with improving soil moisture in corn-deficit areas where cash prices have remained strong.
Jon Scheve ranks all of the USDA reports by importance to farmers.