The U.S. corn crop is projected at 14.1 billion bushels, down from last year’s record high with a lower forecast area and yield, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) re­­port last week.

The yield projection of 170.7 bushels per acre is based on a weather-adjusted trend assuming normal planting progress and summer weather, estimated using the 1988-2016 time period.

The smaller corn crop is partly offset by the largest projected beginning stocks since 1988/89, leaving total corn supplies down from a year ago but still the second highest on record. The season-average farm...