×
×
homepage logo

USDA confirms smaller corn crop expected

By Staff | Sep 16, 2011

Franken Custom Choppers, of Sioux Center, last week chopped corn for dairy farmers Pat and Nancy Jones of Spencer. The company works through 10,000 acres per season in an area that covers parts of Northwest Iowa, Southwest Minnesota and Southeast South Dakota.

URBANA – The USDA’s crop production report, released Monday, confirmed expectations of a smaller U.S. corn crop than forecast in August, said Darrel Good, a University of Illinois agricultural economist.

“The September soybean production forecast, however, is larger than the August forecast, and the forecast size of the foreign wheat, coarse grain and soybean crops also exceed the August forecasts,” Good said.

The 2011 U.S. corn crop is now forecast at 12.497 billion bushels, 50 million larger than the 2010 crop, but 417 million smaller than the August forecast.

The lower forecast reflects a U.S. average yield of 148.1 bushels, compared to 153 bushels forecast last month.

Yield expectations were reduced by 10 bushels in Iowa; 9 bushels in Illinois; 6 bushels in Missouri and Nebraska; and 5 bushels in Indiana, Kansas and Ohio, the USDA’s report said.

Forecast yields were increased for a few states, including Michigan.The U.S. average yield projection is near the average market expectation, Good noted.

World corn outlook

In a separate report, the USDA’s World Agricultural Outlook Board increased the estimate of corn consumption on Aug. 31, by 20 million bushels – 10 million each for domestic uses and exports.Sept. 1 corn stocks are now forecast at 920 million bushels, he said.

“Actual stocks will be revealed in the USDA’s September Grain Stocks report to be released on Sept. 30,” he said.

For the current marketing year, the smaller production forecast forced a reduction in the projected level of consumption and year-ending stocks.

Projections were reduced by 200 million bushels for feed and residual use and 100 million bushels each for domestic processing and exports, Good said.

Sept. 1, 2012, stocks are projected at 672 million bushels, and the 2011-12 marketing year average farm price is projected in a range of $6.50 to $7.50, 30 cents higher than the August projection and well above the $5.20 average of the past year, he said.

“The forecasts of corn production in 2011-12 were increased for Argentina, Brazil, and the Ukraine, but reduced for Egypt and Canada.

U.S. soybean outlook

The U.S. average soybean yield is now forecast at 41.8 bushels, 1.7 bushels below the 2010 average, but 0.4 bushel above the August forecast.The yield forecast was unchanged for Illinois; was reduced by 1 bushel for Indiana, and Iowa; and was increased for Michigan (3 bushels), Minnesota (1 bushel), Nebraska (3 bushels), and Ohio (2 bushels), he said.

The 2011 U.S. soybean crop is forecast at 3.085 billion bushels, 244 million smaller than the 2010 crop, but 29 million larger than the August forecast, he said.

World soybean outlook

The USDA’s September WASDE report reflected an increase of 5 million bushels in the projection of the domestic soybean crush during the year ended Aug. 31, Good said.

“For the current year, the projection of U.S. exports was increased by 15 million bushels. Stocks of U.S. soybeans are expected to total 225 million bushels on Sept. 1, 2011, and 165 million on Sept. 1, 2012,” he said.

The 2011-12 marketing year average farm price is projected in a range of $12.65 to $14.65, 15 cents higher than the August forecast and well above the $11.35 average of the past year, he noted.

The forecast of 2011-12 foreign soybean production was increased marginally (0.4 percent), as was the projection of year-ending stocks outside the United States.Those stocks, however, are expected to be smaller than at the beginning of the year, he said.