US Corn and Soybean Crop Conditions Decline, Wheat Harvest Progresses, and Weaker Grain Exports

Agriculture – US weekly grain inspections decline

The latest crop progress report from the USDA shows that 53% of the US corn crop is rated in good to excellent condition, which is down from 56% the previous week and slightly below the 54% seen at the same stage last year. The soybean crop also deteriorated over the week, with 53% of the crop rated good to excellent, down from 58% the previous week and also below 57% seen last year. Meanwhile, the spring wheat harvest continues to progress well with the harvest 74% complete, up from 54% the previous week and above the 68% harvested by the same stage last year.

The USDA’s weekly export inspection data for the week ending 31 August showed weaker export demand for corn and wheat. Export inspections for corn stood at 481.3kt over the week, lower than 600kt in the previous week and 543kt reported a year ago. Similarly, US wheat export inspections stood at 300kt, down from 390.4kt a week ago and also lower than the 538.5kt seen last year. For soybeans, US export inspections came in at 378.6kt, compared to 326.1kt from a week ago and 500.3kt reported a year ago.

In Australia, the government has trimmed its wheat production estimates by 3% from June to 25.4mt, which would be 36% smaller than the record harvest seen last year. The revisions were made primarily due to dry weather conditions and below-average rainfall in some wheat-growing regions.