The rainy spring that snarled soybean planting and flooded corn fields will trim slightly the size of this year’s corn and soybean crops, according to traders who were polled ahead of projections to be released by the USDA today. On average, traders expect a corn crop of 13.42 billion bushels and a soybean crop of 3.78 billion bushels. The corn crop would be down by 214 million bushels from the USDA’s figures in early June, and the soybean crop would be 10 million bushels below those numbers.
Still, it would be the third-largest corn crop and the second-largest soybean crop ever, coming on the heels of record-setting harvests in 2014. Commodity prices would remain under pressure from the ample supplies.
The USDA reports are the last of the year to base projections of corn and soybean harvests on the assumption of normal weather and yields. Beginning in August, crop forecasts will be based on spot checks of yields and surveys of producers. Weather in July has a strong effect on the corn harvest, which helps make the August crop report one of the most important of the year.
The USDA is to release the monthly Crop Production and companion WASDE reports at noon ET.