GoodFuels

Abundant Harvest

The October corn production forecast from USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service got another boost, thanks to September rains that improved yield prospects in the central Corn Belt, central Great Plains, and upper Mississippi Valley.

The corn production estimate now stands at 12.2 billion bushels, up 1 percent from last month with yields expected to average 154.0 bushels per acre, up 1.7 bushels from September and 2.9 bushels above last year.

What that means is growers are pretty likely to harvest the second largest corn crop ever, with the second highest yield per bushel ever. Officials with the National Corn Growers Association are pretty happy about that. “We’ve been getting some good reports around the Corn Belt as our harvest has gotten under way,” said NCGA President Bob Dickey of Nebraska. “These estimates from the USDA help provide some broad background to our anecdotal field reports, and are terrific news for our growers in a year when the crop met several weather-related challenges.”

This says a great deal about the tremendous resilience and productivity of the American farmer, given record flooding and poor planting conditions in the spring. “Together, America’s farmers and ethanol producers are positively changing the role of American agriculture,” said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen. “They are demonstrating that through the application of technology and ingenuity, this country can continue its role as the ‘breadbasket of the world’ while also making significant strides to securing our energy future.”

Meanwhile, the USDA Supply Demand report for October revised the corn usage for ethanol downward by 100,000 bushels, which RFA still says is too high but at least closer to reality. And the prices are coming down too - which is good news for livestock and ethanol producers. And that should mean we should all be seeing lower food prices in the grocery store now … right????