Corn prices drop after USDA Acreage report

Jul 02, 2019

The report sent corn prices down 21 cents per bushel

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

September corn futures fell sharply after the USDA released a much-anticipated report Friday.

September corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped by about 21 cents to US$4.24 per bushel after the USDA’s Acreage report showed an increase in planted acres.

September corn prices are around US$4.19/bu as of Tuesday afternoon.

The USDA surveyed producers between May 30 and June 17 and discovered that American farmers planted 91.7 million acres of corn, the report said.

That number is up from some market estimates which came in around 86.6 million acres and down from the USDA’s March report of 92.8 million corn acres.

The news of the increased corn acres came as a surprise, said David Reinbott, an agriculture business specialist with the University of Missouri.

“Corn was down hard because everyone thought farmers would be cutting back acres,” he told Farms.com. “We thought there might be five million fewer acres than what the USDA reported.”

Wheat prices also dropped after the USDA published its report.

Prices dipped by almost five cents per bushel after the Acreage report estimated total wheat planting at 45.6 million acres, down 5 percent from last year.

As of Tuesday, September wheat prices are around US$5.04/bu.

Soybean prices inched up after the report’s release.

The price per soybean bushel was up by about four cents on the heels of the report, which indicated that farmers have planted 80 million acres. That figure is “the lowest soybean planted acreage in the United States since 2013,” the USDA said.

September soybean futures traded for about U.S.$8.88 per bushel during Tuesday’s market activity.

The planting and trading numbers could change further as farmers finish planting crops.

Growers still have 16 percent of corn and 41 percent of soybeans left to plant, the report said.

Markets and farmers may have to wait months to get a clear picture of the 2019 crop, Reinbott said.

“With everything getting planted to late, we have no idea what kind of yield we’re going to have,” he said. “We’re not really sure what’s going to happen. It’s going to be very tough to get a good grasp on the kind of year farmers had.”

The USDA will release another Acreage report on Aug 12.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.