The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its monthly Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate reports Thursday at 7:30 a.m. Central. Cargill Senior Grain Merchandiser Ray Jenkins says analysts’ estimates for the corn crop size range between just below 10-billion to more than 11-billion bushels – which is wider than normal. But Jenkins says the biggest wildcard if what – if any – changes are made to the harvested acres. While comparisons are being made to drought years – like 1988 – when harvested acreage fell to 86-percent – Jenkins says the number right now is at 90.66-percent – leaving a lot of room to play with that number if they choose. He was actually surprised when no change was made in last month’s report – with such an early start to the corn harvest. Jenkins says in years like this – the October report is usually viewed as confirming what is known about the size of the corn crop. He says everyone should expect the unexpected.
Source: NAFB News Service