USDA Cuts Corn Stocks Sharply in August WASDE Report
The USDA released its August World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report on August 12, which cut projected US corn ending stocks more sharply than expected. This revision matters for farmers because tighter corn inventories can influence commodity prices, marketing decisions, crop insurance calculations, and farm margins as harvest approaches.
The report showed that additional harvested acreage helped offset lower corn and soybean yields, leaving production surprisingly resilient. For corn, the USDA lowered its first survey-based yield forecast to 180.7 bushels per acre, down from 183 in July and below the 182.5-bushel average trade expectation.
The projected production edged up to 16.01 billion bushels compared with 16 billion in July, after the USDA increased harvested area by 1.2 million acres. This demonstrates how expanded acres can protect aggregate supplies even when field-level yield potential deteriorates.