Market News & Headlines >> USDA Expected to Cut Corn, Soy Crops

USDA is expected to cut its estimates of the 2020 U.S. corn and soybean crops further when it releases its October Crop Production report at 11:00 a.m. CT on Friday. 

Pre-report trade estimates of U.S. corn production average 14.823 billion bushels in a range from 14.638-15.030 billion compared with USDA’s September estimate of 14.900 billion, according to a Bloomberg News survey of 28 analysts. Estimates of the U.S. corn yield average 177.9 bushels per acre vs. USDA’s September forecast of 178.5 bushels. 

Trade expectations for U.S. soybean production average 4.288 billion bushels in a range from 4.225-4.358 billion compared with USDA's September estimate of 4.313 billion bushels. Estimates of the U.S. soybean yield avg. 51.7 bushels per acre vs. USDA's September forecast of 51.9 bushels. 

Looking at the last 10 October crop reports, USDA has cut its U.S. corn production estimate six times, raised it three times and left it unchanged once. All of the October production changes amounted to less than 100 million bushels with the notable exception of 2010, when USDA slashed the crop size by 496 million bushels. 

Looking at October soybean production estimates, over the past 10 years, USDA has cut production five times, raised it four times and left it unchanged once. All of the October changes in soybean production were less than 100 million bushels with the exception of the drought year of 2012, when USDA raised estimated production by 226 million bushels.