The initial production numbers on this year’s U.S. corn and soybean crops from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) were as expected. The USDA pegged this year’s corn yield at 179.5 bushels per acre for a 14.99 billion bushel crop. 

This compares to last year's corn crop of 14.18 billion bushels. The initial soybean production numbers are for a yield of 50.8 bushels per acre and a crop size of 4.4 billion bushels. Last year’s U.S. soybean crop totaled 4.14 billion bushels. Total wheat production in the U.S. is estimated at 1.87 billion bushels compared to 1.83 billion bushels a year ago. 

The only changes to old crop balance sheets took place in the grains. Corn exports were raised 100 million bushels, and industrial use decreased 5 million bushels for a 95 million bushel reduction to ending stocks. This put the U.S. carryout estimate at 1.25 billion bushels and matched trade guesses. 

The initial new crop carryout estimate for corn is 1.5 billion bushels, which was just above trade estimates. The USDA is predicting higher...