USDA predicts corn harvest at 14.4 billion bushels with yield of 171 bushels per acre
In Washington, the US Department of Agriculture predicts a corn harvest this fall of 14.4 billion bushels, a record crop with the highest yield per acre in US history at 171 bushels per acre. Corn ending stocks for the 2014/15 marketing year are projected at 2 billion bushels — the highest since 2004/05. Meanwhile, prices are expected to average $3.50 per bushel.
As harvest ramps up in fields across the country, corn demand from the ethanol sector is ramping up as well. DOE projects 2014 ethanol production will total approximately 14.3 billion gallons.
And yet, there has been much buzz in the past few days about how relevant the corn stocks predictions are. As the Digest reported last week, UIllinois Agriculture economist Darrel Good asserted “the market expectation is that the new forecast will be about 250 million bushels larger than the August forecast and that the forecast is likely to be larger again in October, reflecting a U.S. average yield well above trend value.” Because of the large harvest, his article argued, the stocks of old-crop corn will decrease in relevance.
Category: Fuels
