USDA estimates the U.S. corn crop at just shy of 15 billion bushels

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Today’s report features USDA’s first objective yield surveys for corn and soybeans. USDA added 1.7 bu. to its U.S. corn yield estimate and it raised its harvested acreage estimate by 590,000 acres from its June estimate to 85.085 million acres, pushing its production estimate near 15 billion bushels. This also resulted in a larger than expected increase to new-crop U.S. ending stocks.

USDA’s soybean yield projection climbed a bit more than anticipated to 50.6 bu. per acre, but the department also trimmed its harvested acreage estimate by 284,000 to 86.436 million acres, resulting in a production estimate near in line with analysts’ expectations. New-crop soybean carryover came in near expectations.

Analysts did a good job anticipating USDA’s cut to U.S. wheat carryover following some big misses in recent months. But global new-crop carryover for both wheat and corn came in much higher than anticipated. Global ending stocks of soybeans also topped expectations for 2021-22, though the miss was less extreme.

The department’s cotton production estimate jumped quite a bit more than analysts anticipated, with USDA hiking yields by 95 lbs. per acre, which more than made up for a 434,000-acre cut to harvested acres that now stand at 9.922 million.

The following expectations are based on survey work by Reuters (Bloomberg for cotton).

2021 U.S. Production

                Corn     

 

Production
(bil. bu.)

Yield
(bu. per acre)

USDA

14.996

176.3

Average est.

14.942

175.8

USDA Aug. est.

14.750

174.6

 

Soybeans

 

Production
(bil. bu.)

Yield
(bu. per acre)

USDA

4.374

50.6

Average est.

4.377

50.4

USDA Aug. est.

4.339

50.0

 

Cotton

 

Production
(mil. bales)

Yield
(lbs. per acre)

USDA

18.509

895

Average est.

17.690

NA

USDA Aug. est.

17.264

800

 

 

U.S. Carryover

Corn – billion bushels

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

1.187

1.408

Average est.

1.169

1.382

USDA August

1.117

1.242

 

Soybeans – million bushels

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

175

185

Average est.

166

190

USDA August

160

155

 

Wheat – million bushels

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

844

615

Average est.

NA

616

USDA August

844*

627

*Set by June 1 stocks.

Cotton – million bales

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

3.15

3.70

Average est.

NA

3.43

USDA August

3.20

3.00

 

Global Carryover

Corn – MMT

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

286.48

297.63

World less China

84.30

90.46

Average est.

NA

286.01

USDA August

280.75

284.63

 

Soybeans – MMT

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

95.08

98.89

World less China

62.28

63.90

Average est.

NA

96.89

USDA August

92.82

96.15

 

Wheat – MMT

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

292.56

283.22

World less China

148.45

142.20

Average est.

NA

279.03

USDA August

288.83

279.06

 

Cotton – million bales

 

2020-21

2021-22

USDA

91.30

86.68

World less China

52.05

51.73

Average est.

NA

87.67

USDA August

91.78

87.23

 

 

Global Production Highlights

Corn – MMT

 

2020-21
September (August)

2021-22
September (August)

U.S.

360.25 (360.25)

380.93 (374.68)

Argentina

50.00 (48.50)

53.00 (51.00)

Brazil

86.00 (87.00)

118.00 (118.00)

South Africa

17.00 (17.20)

17.00 (17.00)

Russia

13.87 (13.87)

15.50 (16.50)

Ukraine

30.30 (30.30)

39.00 (39.00)

China

260.67 (260.67)

273.00 (268.00)

Soybeans – MMT

 

2020-21
September (August)

2021-22
September (August)

U.S.

112.55 (112.55)

119.04 (118.08)

Argentina

46.00 (46.00)

52.00 (52.00)

Brazil

137.00 (137.00)

144.00 (144.00)

Paraguay

9.90 (9.90)

10.50 (10.50)

China

19.60 (19.60)

19.00 (19.00)

Wheat – MMT

 

2020-21
September (August)

2021-22
September (August)

U.S.

49.69 (49.69)

46.18 (46.18)

Argentina

17.65 (17.65)

20.00 (20.50)

Australia

33.00 (33.00)

31.50 (30.00)

Canada

35.18 (35.18)

23.00 (24.00)

EU

125.94 (125.94)

139.00 (138.60)

Russia

85.35 (85.35)

72.50 (72.50)

Ukraine

25.42 (25.42)

33.00 (33.00)

Cotton – million bales

 

2020-21
September (August)

2021-22
September (August)

U.S.

14.61 (14.61)

18.51 (17.26)

Australia

2.80 (2.80)

4.70 (4.40)

Brazil

10.75 (10.75)

12.50 (12.50)

India

28.30 (28.30)

28.50 (29.00)

China

29.50 (29.50)

26.75 (26.75)

Pakistan

4.50 (4.50)

5.00 (5.00)

 

 

 

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