It is full speed ahead. It is that time of year when planters are rolling across the Great North American corn belt. In fact, good weather has made for great progress that may ultimately lead two bin busting crops. As of May, the 12th 62% of the US corn had been planted 15% ahead of last year’s pace. However, as we all know we have been here before and one never knows how the final yields will be at this point in the crop year. Needless to say, a good start is a good thing and could likely lead to even bigger crops in 2025. The USDA weighed in with their latest WASDE report on May the 12th.
USDA predicted some big crops in their May 12th report. The USDA estimated new corn crop production at 15.82 billion bushels this year based on a yield forecast of 181 bushels per acre. This was above pre report estimates. The planted acreage is set at 95.3 million acres up 5% from a year ago. Total domestic usage is set at 12.785 billion bushels and corn exports for new crop are projected at 2.675 billion bushels. Globally, USDA estimated Brazil’s corn production to be at 130 MMT with Argentina coming in at 50 MMT.
On the soybean side of the ledger new crop soybean production was estimated at 4.34 billion bushels using a 52.5 bushel per acre national average yield. This was based on a US planted soybean acreage of 83.5 million acres. Total usage for soybeans domestically in the United States is set at 4.415 billion bushels with the forecast ending stocks of 295 million bushels. From a global perspective, USDA is estimating the next Brazilian soybean crop to be at 175 MMT and Argentina to come in at 48.5 MMT. US wheat production is set to increase in the new crop year to 1.921 billion bushels an increase from 1.858 billion bushels last May. There was also an increase globally in world wheat production for this coming year.
On May 16th soybean futures were higher than the last Market Trends report. Corn and wheat futures were lower. July 2025 corn futures was at $4.43 a bushel. Dec 2025 corn were at $4.35 bu. The July 2025 soybean futures stood at $10.50/bu. The November 2025 soybean futures was at $10.35 bu. The July 2025 wheat futures closed at $5.25 a bushel. The Minneapolis May 2025 wheat futures closed at $5.73 a bushel with the September 2025 contract closing at $5.87 a bushel.
The nearby oil futures as of April 18th closed at $62.49/barrel up vs the nearby futures recorded in the last Market Trends report of $64.68/barrel. The average price for US ethanol in the US was $2.00/gallon, lower than the $2.03/gallon recorded in the last Market Trends Report.
The Canadian dollar noon rate on May 16th, 2025, was .7154 US, up vs the .7217 US reported here in the last Market Trends report. The Bank of Canada‘s lending rate remained at 2.75%.
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