News

Quarterly corn stocks swell to all-time high

The U.S. corn supply on March 1^st was the largest for that date on record.

The USDA says corn stocks at the start of the third quarter of the marketing year were 9.024 billion bushels, rising 11% on the year with last year’s all-time high in production, even with solid second quarter demand. That included on-farm stocks of 5.432 billion bushels, a gain of 21%, and off-farm stocks of 3.593 billion bushels, up 2%.

The previous March 1^st record high for corn stocks was set in 2018.

Soybean stocks were above expectations at 2.105 billion bushels, 3% larger than a year ago, with a year-over-year decline in quarterly disappearance. On-farm stocks of 900 million bushels and off-farm stocks of 1.205 billion bushels were 3% and 16% higher than last year respectively.

Wheat stocks of 1.3 billion bushels were up 5% on the year, after a slight increase in production from 2024 to 2025, and despite good usage during the third quarter of the marketing year. On-farm stocks of 298.492 million bushels were 3% less than last year, while off-farm stocks of 1.002 billion bushels were 8% more.

Sorghum stocks came out at 172.162 million bushels, up 15% following a year-to-year rise in production, canceling out improved quarterly demand. On-farm stocks of 23.5 million bushels surged 58% and off-farm stocks of 148.662 million bushels grew 10%.

Rough rice stocks were 3% higher than the year before at 104.017 million hundredweight, 67% of that long grain, and milled rice jumped 23% to 7.713 million hundredweight, both impacted by demand issues. For rough rice, on-farm stocks were 20.875 million hundredweight and off-farm stocks were 83.142 million hundredweight, while milled stocks were all held off-farm.

The 2025/26 marketing year began June 1^st for wheat, August 1^st for rice, and September 1^st for beans, corn, and sorghum.

The USDA’s next round of monthly supply and demand estimates is out April 9^th.