Crop Tour in Derecho Affected Area
- Day 3 of the ProFarmer crop tour was in Illinois and western Iowa.
- The tour forecast the Illinois corn yield at 189.4 bushels per acre, up from 171.2 last year and above the 3-year average of 181.5.
- USDA projected the Illinois yield at 207 bushels per acre in its August report.
- Illinois soybean pod counts were 1,247 pods in a 3’x3’ plot compared with 997 last year and a 3-year average of 1,185 pods.
- The crop tour covered three districts in western Iowa.
- Pro Farmer forecast the Iowa corn yields from 172.4 to 184.7 bushels per acre, below last year and the 3-year averages.
- Western Iowa pod counts ranged from 1,013 pods up to 1,177, which is slightly below last year and the 3-year averages.
FBN’s Take On What It Means: The Illinois bean crop has a chance to be significantly larger than last year as pod counts were up 25%. Illinois corn yields were also strong, despite reports of storm damage on the western side of the state. Drought appeared to have more effect than the wind in western Iowa. Moisture deficits of around 50% were noted across all three districts covered. Today is the last day of the tour and will cover eastern Iowa and the bottom third of Minnesota.
Ukraine Grain Exports Lower
- Ukraine's grain exports to date in the 2020/21 July-June season are 5.1 million tonnes, down from 6.4 million tonnes last year.
- Exports are down mainly due to lower corn thanks to such a strong export season in 2019/20 and limited supplies ahead of new-crop harvest.
- As of August 19, exporters moved 502,000 tonnes of corn compared to 1.7 million tonnes during the same time last season.
- Exports to date also include 3 million tonnes of wheat and 1.6 million tonnes of barley.
- Ukraine harvested a record 75.1 million tonnes of grain in 2019.
- The economy ministry expects that output could fall to 72.1 million tonnes this year.
- A weaker export program this year is expected given the smaller crop.
FBN’s Take On What It Means: Though Ukraine exports are down, that is to be expected after last year's bumper crops. The current grain production outlook is one of plenty supplies to meet normal demand this year. This leads to little opportunity for other origins, especially the US which is not competitively priced and suffers a freight cost disadvantage to EU and North Africa destinations. Plus, China typically seeks Ukrainian corn.
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