The Agriculture Department’s May 10 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates provided the third round of corn and soybean balance sheet estimates for the 2017/18 marketing year.  

Corn yields are projected at 170.7 bushels per acre, down 3.9 bushels from last year’s record-high of 174.6 bushels per acre, but 3.9 bushels above a linear trend yield. Total production, based on USDA’s March 31 Prospective Plantings report, is projected at 14.1 billion bushels, down 7 percent. Corn consumption is also projected to be lower in 2017/18 at 14.3 billion bushels, down 2.4 percent.  

Soybean yields are projected at 48 bushels per acre, down 4.1 bushels from last year’s record of 52.1 bushels per acre, and 2.1 bushels above a linear trend yield. Despite prospective plantings of 89.5 million acres, total production is forecast at 4.255 billion bushels, down 52 million bushels from last year’s record crop. Consumption of soybeans is expected to climb by 142 million bushels to a record 4.2 billion bushels.  

Market Intel update (May 10, 2017)