The drought-hit corn and soybean crops are smaller than expected, said the government on Monday, slicing 451 million bushels from its estimate of the corn harvest and 152 million bushels from its soybean forecast. The revisions reduced this year’s crops to also-rans instead of contenders for the record books.
The soybean crop, at 4.378 billion bushels, would be No. 4 on the record list, rather than No. 1, and the corn crop would be the seventh-largest at 13.944 billion bushels, instead of fourth.
Hot and dry weather in the western Corn Belt cut into crop potential. In Iowa, the top corn producer, yields were forecast at 200 bushels an acre, down by 5 bushels in the past month. Corn yields in Nebraska also were marked down by 5 bushels an acre from the August estimate. Missouri was down by 4 bushels and Minnesota by 2 bushels. USDA lowered soybean yields by 3 bushels an acre in Nebraska and by 2 bushels an acre in Missouri and South Dakota.
Smaller harvests would mean tighter supplies. The USDA said the season-average corn price would be a near-record $6.75 a bushel, 10 cents higher than its August estimate. Soybeans were expected to average $14.35 a bushel, 5 cents below the record set by the 2012 crop, also hit by drought.
The USDA’s monthly Crop Production report is available here.
The USDA’s monthly WASDE report is available here.