October 2, 2006

US soybean stocks up significantly; corn and wheat lower

US soybean stocks are significantly higher than they were a year ago and the highest they've been in more than 20 years, although corn and wheat stocks are lower, the US Department of Agriculture said Friday (Sep 29).

As of Sep 1, soybeans stored on- and off-farm totalled 449 million bushels, a 75 percent increase from a year ago. At this time last year, the USDA reported all stocks at 256 million bushels.

"This is the largest Sep 1 stocks level since 1986," the USDA said Friday in its quarterly Grain Socks report.

Of the 449-million-bushel USDA estimate, 176 million bushels were on farms and 272 million were off-farm stocks. The on-farm total was 77 percent higher than a year ago and the off-farm total was 75 percent higher than a year ago, the USDA said.

The USDA also said it has revised its estimate for 2005 soybean production.

"Based on an analysis of end-of-marketing year stock estimates, disappearance data for exports and crushing and farm programme administrative data, the 2005 soybean production is revised to 3.06 billion bushels, down 23.2 million bushels from the previous estimate," the USDA said.

As for corn in the Grain Stocks report, the USDA said stocks in all positions were 1.97 billion bushels as of Sep 1, a 9 percent decrease from this time last year.

All wheat stocks, also as of Sep 1, are also lower than they were a year ago. All wheat stored on- and off-farm totalled 1.74 billion bushels, a 9 percent decrease from a year ago.