Wheat, corn futures fall after USDA reports larger than expected stocks

[Road through wheat field]
Toltek/iStock via Getty Images

U.S. wheat and corn futures fell sharply Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture's quarterly report showed bigger than expected stockpiles [https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202509307650/wheat-futures-decline-after-usda-reports-rise-in-stocks-daily-grain-highlights].

The USDA showed wheat and corn stocks came in higher than anticipated, with wheat stocks as of September 1 totaling 2.12 billion bushels and corn stocks at 1.53 billion bushels, which both topped the estimates of analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal; soybean stocks fell slightly more than anticipated to 316 million bushels, but the pressure placed on corn and wheat also weighed on soybean futures.

The USDA report could turn out to be the last meaningful data update from the agency for some time if a government shutdown occurs; analysts said the threat of a shutdown helped send investors out of grains and toward safer havens such as gold.

In its weekly Crop Progress report, the USDA said corn and soybean harvests remain behind the pace from this time last year as well as the average during 2020-24. with 19% of the soybean crop and 18% of the corn crop harvested so far; the condition of corn remains at 66% good or excellent, the same as last week, and the condition of soybeans rose by a point to 62% good or excellent.

CBOT wheat (W_1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/W_1:COM]) for December delivery closed -2.3% to $5.07 3/4 per bushel, December corn (C_1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/C_1:COM]) ended -1.3% to $4.16 per bushel, and November soybeans (S_1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/S_1:COM]) settled -1% to $10.00 1/2 per bushel.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:WEAT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WEAT]), (NYSEARCA:CORN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CORN]), (NYSEARCA:SOYB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SOYB]), (DBA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DBA]), (MOO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MOO])

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