The USDA released its quarterly estimate of U.S. Grain stocks on March 31st, 2026. These estimates are for grain stocks are as of March 1st, 2026. 

U.S. corn stocks in all positions totaled 9.02 billion bushels, up 10.8% from March 1st, 2025 (Table 1). Of the total stocks, 5.43 billion bushels are stored on-farms, up 20.7% from a year ago and accounting for 60% of all stocks. Off-farm stocks, at 3.59 billion bushels, are down 1.5% from the previous year. The December-February indicated disappearance is 4.28 billion bushels, a 9.18% increase from the same quarter last year. 

Table 1. U.S. Corn Grain Stocks by Position and Month


U.S. soybean stocks in all positions on March 1st, 2026, totaled 2.10 billion bushels, up 10.1% from the last year (Table 2). Soybean storage on-farms is 900 million bushels, up 2.7% from 877 million bushels on March 1st 2025. Off-farm stocks account for 57% of total stocks at 1.20 billion bushels, up 16.5% from 1.03 billion bushels last year. The December-February indicated disappearance is 1.18 bushels, a 0.7% decrease from the same quarter last year.

Table 2. U.S. Soybean Grain Stocks by Position and Month

Table 3 highlights the differences between reported grain stocks and the expectations of industry experts. Corn stocks increased by 877 million bushels and exceeded average expectations by 80 million bushels. Soybean stocks grew by 194 million bushels but underperformed average expectations by 38 million bushels. Wheat stocks increased by 63 million bushels to 1.30 billion bushels and surpassed expectations by 10 million bushels.  

Table 3. March 1st Grain Stocks vs. Trade Expectations

Iowa corn stocks in all positions on March 1st have increased for the fourth consecutive year. Total stocks rose to nearly 1.58 billion bushels, the highest since 1.59 billion bushels in 2020. On-farm storage accounts for 62% of total corn stocks (Figure 1). Off-farm stocks decreased 12.2% to 599 million bushels.

Figure 1. Iowa March Corn Stocks by Position 2017-2026

Iowa soybean stocks fell by two million bushels to 358 million bushels, a decrease of 0.5% from March 1st 2025. On-farm stocks decreased by five million bushels to 155 million bushels, a decrease of 3.1% from last year. Off-farm storage of soybeans increased by three million bushels to 203 million bushels, an increase of 1.5% from the previous year. 

Figure 2. Iowa March Corn Stocks by Position 2017-2026

Total corn stocks increased in all notable states except Indiana, which marginally fell by 0.7%. Iowa (1.57 billion bushels) and Illinois (1.45 billion bushels) boast the largest corn stocks, followed by Minnesota and Nebraska (Table 4. March 1st Corn Stocks by Position and State). On-farm storage increased in all notable states, with multiple states experiencing growth greater than 20%. Iowa (980 million bushels), Minnesota (810 million bushels), and Illinois (720 million bushels) have the largest on-farm storage. Off-farm corn stocks increased in Wisconsin (13.9%) and South Dakota (11.2%) but decreased in other notable states such as Indiana (-14.0%), Iowa (-12.2%), and Nebraska (-7.3%).

Table 4. March 1st Corn Stocks by Position and State

Total soybean stocks increased in all notable states except Iowa which fell by 0.4% (Table 5). Illinois boasts the largest soybean stock at nearly 375 million bushels, while South Dakota (21.7%), Minnesota (21.3%), and Nebraska (20.1%) experienced the largest percentage increases from the previous year. Nebraska (21.5%) and Minnesota (21.2%) experienced significant percentage increases in on-farm soybean storage, while states like Wisconsin (20.0%), Indiana (-15.7%), and Illinois (-10.7%) saw on-farm storage decline. Off-farm soybean storage increased by nearly 40% in South Dakota and Washington, while Illinois (249 million bushels) and Iowa (203 million bushels) possess the most off-farm stocks.

Table 5. March 1st Soybean Stocks by Position and State