USDA Reports to be Released Next Week

Markets will get updated corn and soybean yield estimates late next week, the first since September. 

In a release on Friday, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said it will release key data on Nov. 14, including the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and crop production reports. Cattle on feed and milk production reports will also be released this month, the release said. 

The reports were initially scheduled for release Nov. 10. 

It will mark the first WADE and crop production reports to be released by the government since September. The ongoing US government shutdown scuttled the October WASDE and crop production reports, leaving traders guessing at key market fundamentals, including the size of this year’s American corn and soybean harvests. 

In its September report, the USDA estimated the average corn yield at 186.7 bu/acre, a number that many now consider too high given a variety of issues, including disease pressure. Southern rust, for example, was particularly widespread and aggressive in parts of the Corn Belt this year. The average US soybean yield was pegged in September at 53.5 bu/acre. 

It remains unclear how the reports will be released with the government shutdown still ongoing, although published reports today said some USDA employees were brought back unpaid to prepare the reports. Some data collection for the reports also occurred before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1.