Grain Prices Rally

On Friday morning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its estimates of this year’s planted acreage for corn, wheat, and soybeans.

While most of the report matched expectations, corn acreage jumped by over a million acres to 89.12 million acres compared to the previous estimate, suggesting that this year’s stellar corn crop is even larger than previously thought.

Despite the jump in corn acreage, prices rose by almost 10 cents, suggesting that investors and end users are seeing current corn prices as a relative bargain. This may give some hope to farmers who recently watched corn lose over 50 cents per bushel in value and soybeans eviscerated by $2.00 per bushel as trade disputes and spectacular growing conditions threaten to leave the U.S. awash in grain this fall after harvest.

Meanwhile, wheat prices jumped over 20 cents per bushel on news of lower European production.