Stored crops up from year ago

WASHINGTON — The amount of corn, soybeans and wheat remaining in bins increased year-over-year in the first quarter of the new marketing year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly grain stocks report reflects grain supplies stored both on-farm and off-farm on Dec. 1, 2025, the end of the first quarter.

Corn stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2025, totaled 13.282 billion bushels, up from 12.075 billion bushels Dec. 1, 2024.

Of the total U.S. corn stocks, 8.70 billion bushels are stored on farms, 14% higher than a year earlier.

Off-farm stocks, at 4.58 billion bushels, are up 4% from a year ago.

The September-November 2025 indicated disappearance is 5.29 billion bushels, compared with 4.58 billion bushels during the same period last year.

Soybeans

Soybeans stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2025, totaled 3.29 billion bushels, up 6% from the 3.1 billion stored Dec. 1, 2024.

Domestic soybean stocks stored on farms totaled 1.58 billion bushels, 2% higher than a year ago. Off-farm stocks, at 1.71 billion bushels, are up 10% from last December.

Indicated disappearance for September-November 2025 totaled 1.30 billion bushels, down 20% from the same period a year earlier.

All Wheat

USDA reported all wheat stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2025, totaled 1.675 billion bushels, up 7% from a year ago’s 1.572 billion.

On-farm wheat stocks are estimated at 446 million bushels, down 4% from last December. Off-farm stocks, at 1.23 billion bushels, are up 11% from a year ago.

The September-November 2025 indicated disappearance is 459 million bushels, 9% above the same period a year earlier.

On-Farm Capacity

The nation’s on-farm storage capacity totaled 13.6 billion bushels on Dec. 1, 2025, up less than 1% from the estimate year ago.

Iowa continues to lead all states with 2.05 billion bushels of on-farm storage capacity, followed by Minnesota with 1.55 billion bushels.

Other major states include Illinois with 1.50 billion bushels of on-farm storage, Nebraska with 1.18 billion bushels, North Dakota with 930 million bushels and Indiana with 860 million bushels of on-farm storage capacity. These six states account for 59% of the nation’s on-farm storage capacity.

On-farm grain storage capacity includes all bins, cribs, sheds and other structures located on farms that are normally used to store whole grains, oilseeds, or pulse crops.

Off-Farm Capacity

Capacity of off-farm commercial grain storage in the United States totaled 11.9 billion bushels on Dec. 1, 2025, up less than 1% from Dec. 1, 2024.

The largest increase occurred in Illinois where an additional 20 million bushels of capacity were added since Dec. 1, 2024. Other notable increases were shown in Iowa, where capacity increased by 10 million bushes, and South Dakota, where capacity increased by 5 million bushels.

Illinois and Iowa remained the two largest off-farm storage capacity states during 2025 with 1.67 billion and 1.54 billion bushels, respectively. Kansas was the third largest, followed by Nebraska and Minnesota. These five states accounted for 53% of the nation’s off-farm storage capacity on Dec. 1, 2025.

Off-farm storage facilities totaled 7,844 on Dec. 1, 2025, 1% below the Dec. 1, 2024, estimate.

States with the largest number of facilities include Iowa with 820, Illinois with 790, Kansas with 685, Minnesota with 480, and Nebraska with 470.

Survey Procedures

USDA’s grain stocks estimates in this report are based on surveys conducted during the month of December. Separate surveys are conducted to obtain the on-farm and off-farm estimates.

The on-farm stocks survey is a probability survey that includes a sample of approximately 73,100 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 Dec. 1, 2025. This includes all whole grains and oilseeds stored whether for feed, seed, or sale, as well as any stored under a government program.

The off-farm stocks survey is an enumeration of all known commercial grain storage facilities. This includes approximately 7,800 facilities with 11.9 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.

Corn Stocks by Position

Dec. 1, 2024 and 2025

(1,000 bushels)

Illinois

On-farm 2024: 1,130,000

Off-farm 2024: 892,953

On-farm 2025: 1,150,000

Off-farm 2025: 890,505

Indiana

On-farm 2024: 650,000

Off-farm 2024: 239,014

On-farm 2025: 670,000

Off-farm 2025: 233,626

Iowa

On-farm 2024: 1,350,000

Off-farm 2024: 828,696

On-farm 2025: 1,450,000

Off-farm 2025: 827,129

Soybean Stocks by Position

Sept. 1, 2024 and 2025

(1,000 bushels)

Illinois

On-farm 2024: 255,000

Off-farm 2024: 289,216

On-farm 2025: 260,000

Off-farm 2025: 312,189

Indiana

On-farm 2024: 165,000

Off-farm 2024: 97,784

On-farm 2025: 150,000

Off-farm 2025: 108,563

Iowa

On-farm 2024: 220,000

Off-farm 2024: 286,550

On-farm 2025: 215,000

Off-farm 2025: 307,086