USDA - Rise in corn and cotton planting, drop in soybeans

Jul 02, 2024

Corn, cotton up, soybeans down; grain stocks high

By Farms.com

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) June Planted Acreage and Grain Stocks Report has bearish implications for commodity markets. The report revealed larger-than-anticipated plantings of corn and cotton, raising concerns about potential oversupply.

Analysts like Betty Resnick, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, highlighted significant increases in corn and cotton acreage compared to both the March Prospective Planting Report and trade expectations. Soybean plantings, however, fell short of expectations.

Grain stockpiles for corn, soybeans, and wheat also exceeded forecasts, with all three crops showing a year-over-year increase of over 20%. While recent flooding in the Upper Midwest is expected to impact crop yields, the report predates these events.

Experts anticipate a lower percentage of corn and soybeans being harvested due to the flooding. The full extent of the damage in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota remains unclear.

The USDA's weekly crop progress report will provide updates on current conditions. However, the next major report, the WASDE report, is scheduled for July 12th. This report may offer further insights into potential adjustments due to weather events.

Video: Cleaning Sheep Barns & Setting Up Chutes

Indoor sheep farming in winter at pre-lambing time requires that, at Ewetopia Farms, we need to clean out the barns and manure in order to keep the sheep pens clean, dry and fresh for the pregnant ewes to stay healthy while indoors in confinement. In today’s vlog, we put fresh bedding into all of the barns and we remove manure from the first groups of ewes due to lamb so that they are all ready for lambs being born in the next few days. Also, in preparation for lambing, we moved one of the sorting chutes to the Coveralls with the replacement ewe lambs. This allows us to do sorting and vaccines more easily with them while the barnyard is snow covered and hard to move sheep safely around in. Additionally, it frees up space for the second groups of pregnant ewes where the chute was initially.