Markets came under pressure following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s September supply/demand report on Tuesday.
The USDA boosted its harvested area for corn by 774 thousand acres to 87.1 million acres, resulting in a U.S. corn production estimate of 15.1 billion bushels — slightly above trade expectations.
The average corn yield for the U.S. was pegged at 173.8 bushels per acre, down 1.3 bushels from August, but in line with pre-report estimates.
For soybeans, the USDA’s September projections of an average U.S. yield at 50.1 bushels per acre and total production of 4.1 billion bushels were close to what the market was expecting.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the September report was in the wheat supply/demand tables, as global wheat ending stocks for 2023-24 were cut to 258.6 million metric tonnes due to smaller harvests in Canada, Australia, Argentina, and Europe. The wheat carryout number was well below pre-report estimates and the USDA’s August estimate of around 265 million metric tonnes. If it comes to fruition, world wheat supplies would be the smallest they’ve been since 2015-16.
??U.S. #corn production comes in a bit above expectations (USDA increased harvested area by about 750k acres). #Soybeans come very close to expectations, very minor area adjustment. pic.twitter.com/5YKnkEPMOP
— Karen Braun (@kannbwx) September 12, 2023
Biggest surprise from the USDA report coming from the world 23/24 wheat number ?
Falling far below the estimates. As the USDA reduced the crops in Australia, Canada, Argentina, EU, UK pic.twitter.com/U1IRcneuCt
— Market Minute LLC (@MarketMinuteLLC) September 12, 2023