Ag Decision Maker • Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

March USDA Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks Summary

April 1, 2021 Ann Johanns

Chad Hart, ISU Extension Grain Marketing Economist, provides a summary of the March 31, 2021 USDA reports.

For most of the March 31, 2021 stats, USDA’s new numbers were below expectations and that was good news for the markets. Corn and soybean plantings are above last year’s levels, but below trade guesses. Corn stocks were below both last year’s level and trade expectations, while soybean stocks were below last year, but slightly above expectations. The acreage change will drop USDA’s projected corn production by 141 million bushels (now setting at 15 billion bushels) and soybean production by 121 million (new estimate for 2021 is 4.4 billion bushels). The changes will further tighten 2021/22 projected ending stocks. For soybeans, if I held soybean usage to USDA’s earlier estimates, ending stocks fall to 24 million bushels (an incredibly low number). Thus, expect some major shifts in both crop usage and price estimates for the 2021 crops, once USDA starts the monthly projections in May (until then, USDA’s last complete set of estimates is from the Ag Outlook Forum in February).

Chad shares insights on these numbers and more in his latest Ag Market Outlook video. Latest slides on Ag Market Outlook.

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April 1, 2021

Crop Outlook corn, grain stocks, plantings, soybeans, USDA

Ready to Plant

March 31, 2015 Ann Johanns

Chad Hart, ISU Extension Grain Marketing Economist, provides a summary of the latest USDA reports.

Farmers provided their first outlook on the 2015 crop year with the release of USDA’s Prospective Plantings report. And the general shift is along the lines that the market expected. Corn planting intentions came in at 89.2 million acres. That’s 200,000 acres more than USDA’s early estimate and a half of million acres more than the average trade guess, but it’s still 1.4 million acres less than was planted last year. Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa all reduced corn intentions slightly, but there are offsetting increases on the fringes of the Corn Belt. The largest moves are in Minnesota, up 300,000 acres, and South Dakota, down 600,000 acres. Soybean planting intentions are at a record 84.6 million acres. That is well above USDA’s early estimate of 83.5 million acres, but below the average trade guess at 85.9 million acres. The I-states all increased soybean intentions, with Iowa topping 10 million acres. The big movers are Nebraska, down 300,000 acres, and Ohio, up 250,000 acres. Given USDA’s trend yields, the acreage numbers imply expected crops of 13.625 billion bushels for corn and 3.85 billion bushels of soybeans.

These projected large crops are coming on top of last year’s record crops. The Grain Stocks report was also released today and it showed more crop still sitting in storage. Soybean stocks came in at 1.33 billion bushels, up 34 percent from last year, even though disappearance was slightly higher. Corn stocks stand 7.74 billion bushels, up 11 percent from last year, as disappearance was basically flat. The main punchline from today’s reports is that supplies continue to build and while demand is growing, it will take a while to work through the expected production. Prices have lowered to reflect this and these reports don’t change that dynamic.