March 29, 2024

Quarterly stocks continue downward trend

WASHINGTON — Corn, soybeans and wheat stocks were all down year-over-year for the second consecutive quarterly grain stocks report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported corn stocks in all positions on March 1 totaled 7.95 billion bushels, down 8% from 2019.

Of the total corn stocks, 4.45 billion bushels were stored on farms, 13% lower than a year earlier. Off-farm stocks, at 3.50 billion bushels, are up slightly from a year ago.

The December 2019-February 2020 indicated disappearance of corn is 3.45 billion bushels, compared with 3.32 billion bushels during the same period last year.

U.S. soybeans stored in all positions on March 1 totaled 2.25 billion bushels, down 17% from 2019.

Soybean stocks stored on farms are estimated at 1.01 billion bushels, down 20% from a year ago. Off-farm stocks, at 1.24 billion bushels, 15% lower than last March.

Indicated disappearance for the December 2019-February 2020 quarter totaled 1 billion bushels of soybeans, down 1% from the same period a year earlier.

The nation’s all wheat stored in all positions on March 1 is estimated at 1.41 billion bushels, down 11% from a year ago.

On-farm wheat stocks are estimated at 339 million bushels, down 8% from last March. Off-farm stocks, at 1.07 billion bushels, 12% below a year ago.

The December 2019-February 2020 indicated disappearance is 428 million bushels, 3% above the same period a year earlier.

Methodology

The grain stocks estimates in this report are based on surveys conducted during the first two weeks of March.

The on-farm stocks survey is a probability survey that includes a sample of approximately 79,900 farm operators selected from a list of producers that ensures all operations in the United States have a chance to be selected. These producers are asked to provide the total quantities of grain stored on their operations as of March 1, 2020.

The off-farm stocks survey is an enumeration of all known commercial grain storage facilities. This includes approximately 8,400 facilities with 11.6 billion bushels of storage capacity. An effort is made to obtain a report from all facilities.

Reports of stock holdings are normally received from operations covering about 90% of the capacity. Estimates are made for missing facilities to make the survey complete.