USDA Reports Thursday

Next Thursday March 29, 2019 the USDA will release the Prospective Plantings and the Quarterly Stocks Now Reports. These two reports released at the same time have had a history of being big market movers. The Stocks Now is the USDA survey of the actual bushels of corn and soybeans in commercial and on farm storage as of March 1st. The last few years we have seen big swings in the Quarterly Stocks, one quarter very bearish and the next quarter bullish.

There can be surprises in the USDA projected planted acres too. However the USDA does release a projection in the Outlook Forum in late February every year. So traders do have a base line from the USDA on acres of major crops. Back in February the USDA projected about 90 million acres of corn and soybeans this year. Because the corn bean ratio seems to favor beans, traders think farmers will plant more beans and less corn this year.

The USDA acres and stocks will be released next Thursday at 11:00 am. Traders will have about an hour and 15 minutes to trade the numbers before the grain markets close for the long Easter weekend. Remember the markets will be closed Friday in observance of Good Friday.