Corn futures prices shrink on crop forecastCorn futures prices shrink on crop forecast

John T.

The May issue of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, or WASDE, is always interesting as it provides the USDA’s first forecast for the next year. 


In this month’s report, the USDA hit the corn crop with a triple whammy by increasing 2011-2012 old-crop end stocks from 801 million to 851 million bushels; increasing the 2012-2013 production forecast to 14.79 billion bushels, up 19.7 percent from last year; and projecting 2012-2013 farm-level corn prices to average just $4.60 per bushel, down 24.6 percent from $6.10 in 2011-2012. Corn futures have responded by dropping from a pre-report high of $6.66 per bushel May 9 to below $6 by mid-month. The new-crop December 2012 corn contract was ...