Corn Prices Surge on Pro Farmer Yield Projection
Corn prices surged on Monday morning in response to Pro Farmer's yield projection. The commodity shot up by 12-13 cents, following late gains on Friday that left contracts 2¾-6½ cents higher across the board. Open interest declined by 12,307 contracts, mainly due to a significant drop of 32,494 in September contracts.
The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price rose by 5 cents to $4.52½. Pro Farmer estimates the US national yield at 173.2 pba, with production at 15.344 bbu. Weekly CFTC data showed managed money spec traders in corn futures and options holding a net long position of 250,505 contracts by August 18.
USDA Export Sales data from Thursday reported old crop corn commitments standing at 87.74 MMT, surpassing last year's figure by 24%. This represents 102% of the USDA projection and matches the pace set in the previous year. Accumulated sales for new crop are currently at 11.391 MMT, lagging behind last year's tally by 21.7%.
Agrural estimates the 2025/26 second corn crop at 92% harvested as of Thursday, still trailing the average of 98%. The first corn crop for 2026/27 was estimated to be 2% planted, falling behind last year's pace of 3.2%.