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Record corn, soybean acreage offsets lower USDA yield estimates

The USDA added more corn and soybean acres in its latest production estimates, which included the first survey-based yield forecasts of the season.

Sam Hudson with Cornbelt Marketing tells Brownfield “That’s 2.8 million acres between corn and beans alone, combined. It’s just a huge total, 183.5 million combined corn and beans, that’s a record. You know, it seems odd to see numbers that large when you look at input costs and margins available. A lot of people will blame some of these government payments and handouts that’ll help keep some of that in, you know, in play.”

He says good crops in parts of the Corn Belt last year might have also played a role.

The USDA also lowered corn and soybean yield estimates slightly in the August supply and demand report to 180.7 bushels/acre, and 52.7 bushels/acre, respectively.

Hudson, based in central Illinois, says there’s been some variability in the corn.

“We’re still going to have a lot to take in and and digest, but when you’ve got, demand that’s record large, you know we need that. There’s no more room for error. We got our acres added with that yield reduction. You know production on corn is basically 16 billion and and we need it to be there at this point.”

Hudson says the current U.S. ending stocks leave less room for crop problems.

While production will likely be adjusted this fall, Hudson says the updated data will be a reference point for the commodity markets in the next month.