Feed Ingredients Report: Week Ending Oct. 12, 2018

Weekly Average Price History

Week	Corn	Soybeans	Wheat SRW
Oct. 8, 2018	3.67	8.62	5.13
Oct. 1, 2018	3.67	8.62	5.17
Sep. 24, 2018	3.62	8.47	5.17
Sep. 17, 2018	3.49	8.33	5.17

• The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) surprisingly trimmed its forecasts for both domestic corn and soybean production in October's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, with the soy cut stemming from a reduction in acres while the corn harvest will be lower due to smaller-than-expected yields.
• Soybean production was seen falling from the government’s September estimate due to a decrease in harvested acres in key states such as Illinois and Minnesota.
• Despite the cuts, the U.S. soybean crop was still projected as the biggest ever, while corn harvest was pegged as the second-biggest on record.
• The corn crop was seen at 14.778 billion bushels, based on an average record yield of 180.7 bushels per acre, the government said in its monthly supply and demand report. Soybean production was pegged at 4.690 billion bushels, with yields averaging a record 53.1 bushels per acre.
• In the wake of USDA’s surprising figures and Friday’s follow-through buying, trade sources estimate that commodity funds purchased about 31,500 corn contracts on the net over the past three sessions, which would put speculative corn bets close to flat to end the week. 
• CBOT December corn CZ8 on Friday settled 4-1/2 cents higher at $3.73-3/4 a bushel, the contract’s highest close since Aug. 21.
• Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures rose for a second straight session on Friday, buoyed by short-covering and follow-through buying after a lower-than-expected USDA crop forecast a day earlier.

*Source: Thomson Reuters

Weekly Spotlight

While last week's crop production for corn was not as high as expected, it was still the second highest on record.