Each crop year comes with its own set of milestones. We start with the USDA Outlook Forum projections in February, followed by March acreage intentions, initial supply and demand projections released in May, with the June acreage figure really proving to be one of the last pieces of data released still capable of truly surprising the market.
The June report from the USDA has had its share of surprises over the years. Many of those have been driven by quarterly stocks. Quarterly stocks this year held little in the way of surprises, corn supplies came in slightly lower than traders were anticipating, indicating a likely increase in feed and residual will help to offset a needed reduction in the export outlook. Wheat and soybean stocks came in slightly below expectations, but not out of line from where they should be with the current supply and demand profile.
