Major Increase in Corn Production Expected Across the South

By Wendiam Sawadgo

The USDA released the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) on September 12^th. Last month’s report introduced the first yield estimates of the year for various crops, and this month’s report updates those yield estimates while adjusting planted and harvested acreage estimates given data from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) certified acres. The September report did not show drastic changes, as corn production is still expected to set a new record, in part due to increased production in southern states.

The record corn production forecast in the last report is projected to increase slightly to 16.8 billion bu. This increase in corn production is due to estimated planted acres increasing to 98.7 million acres, up 1.4 million acres from the August estimate.

The production increase comes despite the corn yield forecast decreasing 2.1 bu. per acre from last month’s forecast to 186.7 bu. per acre. This decrease in the national corn yield forecast was driven by 1-3 bu. per acre reductions in several major-producing Midwest states, including Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.