KANSAS CITY, MO. — A bevy of reports from the US Department of Agriculture on Jan. 12 were viewed as bullish for grain and oilseed futures with the USDA data near or below the average of many pre-report trade expectations.

Chicago corn, soybean and wheat futures, as well as Kansas City and Minneapolis wheat contracts all surged after the mostly bullish USDA reports, posting fresh contract and six-year highs in most cases, including corn futures up the daily trading limit of 25¢ a bushel.

The USDA forecasts of average prices paid to farmers for wheat, corn and soybeans in 2020-21 all were raised from the December forecasts.

World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates:

Corn carryover on Sept. 1, 2021, was forecast at 1.5 billion bushels, down 150 million bushels, or 9%, from December and down 19% from 1.9 billion bushels a year earlier.

Soybean carryover on Sept. 1, 2021, was forecast at 140 million bushels, down 35 million bushels, or 20%, from December and down 73% from 525 million bushels in 2020.

The averages of trade expectations were 859 million bushels for wheat, 1.6 billion bushels for corn and 139 million bushels for soybeans.

Crop Production, 2020 Summary:

Corn production in 2020 was estimated at 14.2 billion bushels, up 4% from 2019 but down 2.2% from the November estimate based on lower average yield at 172 bushels per acre, down 3.8 bushels from November, and harvested area at 82,467,000 acres, down 60,000 acres. The average of trade expectations for corn production was 14.4 billion bushels, with the USDA estimate even below the full range of individual trade expectations.

Soybean production was estimated at 4.1 billion bushels, up 16% from 2019 but down 0.8% from the prior estimate as lower average yield of 50.2 bushels per acre, down 0.5 bushel, more than offset higher harvested area of 82,318,000 acres, up 29,000 acres. The average of trade expectations for soybean production was 4.1 billion bushels.

Grain Stocks:

Corn stocks on Dec. 1, 2020 were estimated at 11.3 billion bushels, down slightly from a year ago, including on-farm stocks at 7 billion bushels and off-farm stocks at 4.2 billion bushels. Indicated September-November disappearance was 4.7 billion bushels, up 6% from the same period a year earlier.

Soybean stocks on Dec. 1, 2020, were estimated at 2.9 billion bushels, down 10% from Dec. 1, 2019, including 1,308 million bushels on farms and 1,625 million bushels off farms. Indicated September-November disappearance was 1.7 billion bushels, up 43% from the same period a year earlier.