• April 16, 2018 – A small increase in corn planting progress last week, +1%. The range for this week of the crop year is 2% to 19%, 6% average. Along with strong corn exports, corn ethanol production and consumption continue to increase 2 to 3% over last year.

• April 10, 2018 – The April WASDE showed no major changes to U.S. balance sheets for corn, sorghum, or soybeans. The biggest adjustments were to crop production levels in South America.

• March 29, 2018 – Bullish numbers in the Prospective Plantings report overwhelmed bearish numbers in Grain Stocks in this morning’s releases from USDA/NASS. Farmers intend to plant 88 million acres of corn, 89 million acres of soybeans, and 47.3 million acres of wheat for 2018.

• March 26, 2018 – Looking ahead to the Planting Intentions and Grain Stocks reports at the end of the week. Pre-report estimates, compared to last year corn acres down 1 percent, soybean acres up 1 percent, corn stocks up 1 percent, soybean stocks up 17 percent.

Mark Welch
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Economist
600 John Kimbrough Blvd
TAMU 2124
College Station, Texas 77843
Tel. (979)845-8011
Fax. (979)845-4906
JMWelch(at)tamu.edu

^{The opinions and recommendations expressed are solely those of the author and are intended for educational purposes only as part of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.  Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service assumes no liability for the use of this newsletter.  Educational programs of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.  The Texas A&M University System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating}