January 19, 2010

US '09 corn and soy crops break records

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released its final production numbers revealing US farmers produced record corn and soy crops.

Corn production is 13.151 billion bushels, 1% above the previous record of 13 billion bushels set in 2007, and 9% higher than 2008. Corn yields reached an all-time high in 2009 at 165.2 bushels per acre, eclipsing the previous record of 160.3 bushels per acre set in 2004. Planted area, at 86.5 million acres, is the second highest since 1949, behind 2007's 93.5 million acres.

Advance Trading analyst Brian Bastings said this corn crop showed there would be plenty of corn, and carryout could rise even further. Corn exports could decline moving forward, which could add to carryout figures and push ending stocks to nearly 2 billion bushels.

Due to this year's overall poorer corn quality and lower corn test weight, it may require more corn to meet domestic needs, added Jerry Gidel, president of North America Risk Management Services.

Meanwhile, the 2009 soy crop broke records for planted and harvested area as well as for yield and production. Soy production totalled 3.361 billion bushels, up 13% from 2008 and up 5% from the previous record set in 2006.

The average yield per acre is 44 bushels, up 0.9 bushels from the previous record set in 2005. Farmers nationwide planted a total of 77.5 million soy acres and harvested 76.4 million acres in 2009, both up 2% from the previous record set last year.