Market News & Headlines >> U.S. Grain Stocks Down Sharply Versus Last Year

USDA’s quarterly Grain Stocks report, due out Thursday morning, is expected to show Sept. 1 U.S. corn and soybean stocks down sharply from a year earlier, but little changed from USDA’s current 2020/21 ending stocks estimates. Sept. 1 wheat stocks are also expected to be well below a year earlier.

Trade estimates of Sept. 1 corn stocks average 1.155 billion bushels in a range from 998 million to 1.252 billion bushels, according to a Reuters News Service survey. The average of trade estimates is down nearly 40% from 1.919 billion bushels a year earlier but is only 32 million bushels below USDA’s current 2020/21 ending stocks forecast of 1.187 billion bushels.

Pre-report estimates of Sept. 1 soybean stocks average 174 million bushels in a range from 145 million-202 million bushels. The average of trade estimates is down nearly 67% from a year earlier but is only 1 million bushels below USDA’s current 2020/21 soybean ending stocks forecast.

Trade expectations for Sept. 1 wheat stocks average 1.852 billion bushels in a range from 1.775-1.998 billion bushels. The average of trade estimates is more than 14% below the Sept. 1, 2020 stocks of 2.158 billion bushels. Traders may pay more attention than normal to the wheat stocks estimate as they try to gauge how much wheat entered the livestock feed mix this summer due to tight corn supplies and high prices.