USDA Reports

USDA’s end-of-March Prospective Plantings report always brings a few surprises. This year will likely be the same.

The long corn/short bean spreaders were caught again leaning the wrong way and the exit door wasn’t big enough to let long corn folks out quick enough.

After all the hoopla about this morning’s USDA reports, we know one thing: They are outdated and they will change. Let’s look beyond the published numbers.

Russia’s Blizzard of the Century Is a Blessing for Wheat Fields

When the January crop production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WADSE) reports were released, U.S. Farm Report conducted a Twitter poll to see how, if at all, farmers would adjust their planting intentions for the spring after corn yielded a record high 176.1 bushels per acre.

It’s been almost a week since the USDA released its January crop production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) reports, showing a big corn crop became bigger and record-setting at 176.6 bushels per acre.

With markets in a pivotal paradigm, farmers and traders alike are waiting in anticipation for USDA’s Quarterly Grain Stocks report to see if it can provide any bullish news.

In their Friday report, USDA noted that as of September 1 corn stocks were up 130 million bushels more than the average trade guess.

Trade uncertainty, large yields and excessive stocks create extra risk as farmers market their 2018 and 2019 crops.

The trade is trying to figure out just how much corn will get harvested this year, which Pro Farmer’s Brian Grete is calling the “impossible puzzle.”