Corn Futures Hold Gains, But ProFarmer Tour Reports Lower Yields

Corn futures are holding onto their Thursday gains, but at lower levels than earlier in the session. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price is up 4 ¾ cents at $4.49 1/4. This comes as the ProFarmer Crop Tour showed Illinois corn yields averaging 184.19 bushels per acre, down 7.71% from last year and 7.52% below the three-year average.

The tour also reported yields for the western districts of Iowa, which ranged from 189.73 to 191.8 bushels per acre, all lower than their respective tour averages last year. The USDA's Export Sales data showed 232,892 MT of old crop corn sales in the week of August 13, well above last year's net cancellations but down from the previous week.

New crop business was tallied at 816,097 MT, which fell short of estimates and marked a four-week low. The International Grains Council reported world corn production down 1 MMT to 1.305 billion MT, with consumption also decreasing by 1 MMT. Stocks remained unchanged at 293 MMT.