08/13/2024 Bearish Soybean Stunner Still Dragging Corn and Wheat Down in Undertow

On the Grains When I hit the sack last night and took one last look at overnight trade I was encouraged to see nothing but plus signs. Even beans were up a few cents from yesterday’s plunging close. I hoped maybe the worst had passed. After all, on their own, the ending stocks numbers for both corn and wheat actually leaned a little price friendly yesterday at both the U.S. and global level. Yes, the U.S. corn yield was raised by 2.1 bpa, a full bu. more than expected. But planted area declined by 800,000 acres and harvested acreage was cut by 200,000 acres more than expected. If you divide the new production figure by the July estimate for harvested acreage, the average yield would have been up only half a bushel. Alas, as I send this off to press at 6am, beans are down hard again and dragging corn and wheat down with them. Yes, the average yield increased by 1.3 bpa, but that was right on the average trade estimate. It was the revision to acreage that KO’d this market. The trade expected harvested acreage to decline by an average of 145,000 acres. Instead, USDA boosted both planted and harvested…