USDA Reports Friday Morning

Friday morning at 11:00 am the USDA will release the Perspective Plantings Report and the Stocks Now Positions Report. These two reports that are released every year late in March have had a history of being market movers, sometimes higher, others lower. The Stocks Now Positions Report is the USDA's estimate of how many bushel of, corn, beans and wheat are in commercial and on farm storage. The Perspective Plantings Report is the USDA's projection on how many acres of corn, beans and wheat will be planted this year.

The last few years it seemed like the Perspective Plantings Report has not been a surprise to the market. Every February the USDA has an Outlook Forum where they project how many acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and other crops will be planted in that crop season. It seems like the projected planted acres in the Perspective Plantings Report in March is the same as the acres in the Outlook Forum that were released in February. The Quarterly Stocks Report or Stocks Now is the wild card. We have seen huge swings in the report from one quarter to the next. So, be prepared at 11:00 am Friday morning!