USDA Lowers Corn/Soybean Yield Forecasts
USDA’S latest Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) reports, released on Sept. 12, estimate average corn yields at 168.2 bushels/acre, down 1.3 bu/a from the previous forecast and a full 8.2 bu/a below 2018. Corn production for grain was projected at 13.8 billion bushels, down 1 percent from the previous forecast and 4 percent below last year. The season-average corn price received by producers was unchanged at $3.60/bushel.
Soybean production was estimated at 3.63 billion bushels, down 1 percent from the previous forecast and down 20 percent from last year, with average yields estimated at 47.9 bu/a, down 0.6 bushel from the previous forecast and down 3.7 bushels from 2018. The U.S. season-average soybean price for 2019/20 was estimated at $8.50/bushel, up 10 cents from the previous forecast.