On Friday, August 12th, USDA released their August WASDE report. The August report is always closely watched because it provides the first pass at production estimates based on field survey data and becomes more refined each month.
USDA surpassed trade expectations by projecting yields and production above the high end of the expected range. They project a corn yield of 175.1 bushels per acre resulting in production of 15.153 billion bushels. They project a soybean yield of 48.9 bushels per acre resulting in production of 4.06 billion bushels. Each of these figures would be new records if realized.
However, on the other side of the coin the USDA projects record usage to offset some of the large crops. They pegged corn usage at 14.5 billion bushels and soybean usage at 4.016 billion bushels. Both of those figures would also be new records.
Crop condition scores were steady this week. The corn crop is rated 74% good-excellent vs. 69% last year. The soybean crop is rated 72% good-excellent vs. 63% last year.
| Conditions (Good + Excellent) | |
| Corn Conditions | G/E: 74% TW vs. 74% LW, 69% LY |
| Soybean Conditions | G/E: 72% TW vs. 72% LW, 63% LY |
| Milo Conditions | G/E: 65% TW vs. 65% LW, 68% LY |
| Spring Wheat Conditions | G/E: 66% TW vs. 68% LW, 70% LY |
| Crop Progress Summary | |
| Corn Dough | 73% TW vs. 53% LW, 65% LY, 60% AVG |
| Corn Dented | 21% TW vs. 9% LW, 18% LY, 21% AVG |
| Soybean Blooming | 95% TW vs. 91% LW, 92% LY, 93% AVG |
| Soybean Setting Pods | 80% TW vs. 69% LW, 76% LY, 75% AVG |
| Milo Headed | 83% TW vs. 74% LW, 80% LY, 72% AVG |
| Milo Coloring | 42% TW vs. 31% LW, 37% LY, 37% AVG |
| Milo Mature | 23% TW vs. (NA)% LW, 23% LY, 26% AVG |
| Winter Wheat Harvested | 97% TW vs. 94% LW, 99% LY, 95% AVG |
| Spring Wheat Harvested | 48% TW vs. 30% LW, 46% LY, 30% AVG |
Read the August 12th WASDE report here
Read the complete NASS Crop Progress report here
Graphics courtesy of Advance Trading Inc
