USDA Releases Supply-and-Demand Numbers

The USDA has trimmed its yield and production estimates for the U.S. corn crop, which is still expected to be the third-biggest on record.

The department now projects a national yield of 167.5 bushels per acre, down from 168.8 bushels predicted in August and lower than the 2014 record yield of 171 bushels per acre.

Farmers will harvest 13.585 billion bushels this fall, compared with the August forecast of 13.686 billion bushels and the record 2014 crop of 14.216 billion bushels, the USDA said in its World Agriculture and Supply and Demand Estimates report.

The market was expecting slight reductions, following reports of disappointing yields in some southern states.

Earlier this month, the USDA said about 68% of the corn crop was rated good or excellent, compared with 74% in early September 2014.

The U.S. soybean crop is estimated at 3.935 billion bushels, up 19 million bushels from the month-ago figure due to higher projected yields.

USDA raised its cotton crop estimate to 13.43 million bales, from 13.08 million, mostly due to a bigger crop in Texas, the biggest cotton-producing state. S