Corn, soybeans, and wheat were down; cotton was up for the week. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

2019 USDA March Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks Reports

On Friday March 29, the USDA released the Prospective Plantings and March Grain Stocks
reports. Corn, soybean, and wheat futures closed down for the day; cotton closed up.

Prospective Plantings

Principle Crop Area Planted – Includes: corn, sorghum, oats, barley, rye, winter wheat, Durum wheat, other spring wheat, rice, soybeans, peanuts, sunflower, cotton, dry edible beans, chickpeas, potatoes, sugarbeets, canola, and proso millet. Projected at 315.352 million acres, down 4.226 million acres compared to 2018. A substantial decline reflective of weak profit margins for principle row crops. Reduced planted acreage of principle crops will transition to lower acre a regional alternatives, pasture and forage, or be left fallow. Continue reading at Comments on Prospective Plantings Report.

Released: March 29, 2019

March 1 Planting Intentions Indicate Record Low Burley Tobacco Harvested Acreage

Farmers in Tennessee intend to plant 850,000 acres of corn, 110,000 acres more than 2018. U.S. corn growers intend to plant 92.8 million acres for all purposes in 2019, down 4 from last year and 3 percent from 2017.

Soybean acreage in Tennessee was expected to total 1.50 million acres, down 200,000 acres from the previous year. U.S. soybean planted area for 2019 is estimated at 84.6 million acres, down 5 percent from last year.

Upland cotton acreage to be planted in Tennessee is forecast at 360,000, unchanged from 2018. The U.S. total upland cotton acreage is estimated at 13.5 million acres, down 2 percent from the previous year. Continue reading at MarchPP19_TN.

Corn, cotton, and wheat were up; soybeans were down for the week.

Trade uncertainty and weather remain the dominant influence in corn, soy-bean, wheat, and cotton markets. Currently, we are just over six months into the corn and soybean marketing years, seven months into the cotton mar-keting year, and nine months into the wheat marketing year. Given the mas-sive trade disruptions (China, USMCA, and the E.U.) that affected agricultural in 2018 and have persisted in 2019, it will not be surprising to many that outstanding export sales and accumulated export shipments are behind the pace required to meet USDA marketing year projections. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

Tennessee corn yields for 2018 averaged 168 bushels per acre. Franklin County with 19,300 acres harvested had the highest county yield at 196.9 bushels per acre followed closely by White County at 196.8 bushels per acre. A breakdown on yields by county can be found at Corn18_TN. Statewide,  soybean yields averaged 46 bushels per acre. Cannon County led the way at 60.4 bushels per acre with Obion County next at 49.6 bushels per acre.  Additional data on county yields can be found at SOY18_TN.

Corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat were up for the week.

This week nearby contracts for corn ($3.61) and wheat ($4.27) set new six
month contract lows before rallying mid-week to close up for the week – as at the close of business on Thursday. Marketing year exports continue to lag well behind the pace required to meet USDA 2018/19 marketing year export  projections. Strong competition for export markets for wheat (Russia and the EU) and corn (Brazil and Ukraine) continue to persist. Stocks of wheat and corn are projected to reduce compared to the previous marketing year, however they remain near record large. Low global prices will continue to persist barring a weather event that constricts global grain production and further reduces stocks. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

Corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat were down for the week.

On Friday, the USDA released the March WASDE report. The report was not expected to make any major revisions to domestic balance sheets for corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat. The report met this expectation by making small modifications to corn exports and ethanol use (down 75 and 25 million bushels), soybean crush (up 10 million bushels), cotton (decreased season average farm price by 2 cents per lb), and wheat decreases for food use and exports (5 and 35 million bushels). Details of the report for corn, cotton, soybeans, and wheat are available online at Tennessee Monthly Comments and Profitability Update. Continue reading weekly comments at Tennessee Market Highlights.

Corn, soybeans, and wheat were down; cotton was up for the week.

Prices for grains and oilseeds were down across the board as low exports
remain a major concern in grain markets. As of February 22,  accumulated exports of corn, soybeans and wheat were 5% above, 25% below, and 15% below the five year average for this week in the marketing year. Similarly, total export commitments (accumulated exports plus outstanding sales) as a percent of total projected USDA marketing exports were: corn – 64% (5-year average of 71%), soybeans -76% (5-year average of 89%), and wheat – 81% (5-year average of 94%). The longer exports lag projections the more worries about higher domestic stocks will weigh on markets. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.