A decidedly bearish USDA report battered wheat futures on Friday. Soybeans also lost ground while corn managed small advances.
The USDA’s latest monthly supply-demand estimates released at the noon hour pegged total American all wheat production for 2024-25 at 2.008 billion bu, up 134 million from the June estimate of 1.875 billion and now about 11% above the 2023 of crop 1.812 billion. Ending stocks were raised 98 million bu from last month to 856 million, a five-year high and almost 22% higher than 2023-24. September Chicago wheat dropped 20 ½ cents to $5.50 ¾, September Kansas City lost 16 cents to $5.67 ¾, and September Minneapolis dropped 21 ¼ cents to $5.97 ½.
Soybeans fell, with the USDA report providing no major surprises. Old-crop US soybean ending stocks were trimmed 5 million bu from last month to 345 million. New-crop stocks dropped 20 million to 435 million, mainly due to a smaller planted and harvested area and expected lower production. August beans lost 12 cents to $11.05, and November slipped 2 ½ cents to $10.65 ¼.
Corn moved a bit higher on the day as the USDA raised its 2024 US production estimate from last month, but increased demand still meant projected 2024-25 ending stocks were down 5 million bu from June to 2.097 billion bu. September managed a 1 ¾-cent gain to $4.02 and December was 4 cents higher at $4.14 ¾.
