March 11

3/11 - In Friday’s WASDE report, the USDA increased 2018/19 corn ending stocks by 100M bushels, based on a projected 25M bushel decrease in corn usage for ethanol and a 75M bushel reduction in corn export forecast. Large corn crops in Brazil and Argentina are likely to make U.S. corn exports less competitive in world markets. The USDA dropped its 2018/19 corn price forecast from $3.60 to $3.55/bu. Corn futures, which averaged $3.79 for the month of Jan, closed at $3.54 on 3/8. Lower corn and steady soymeal prices could help support slowing growth in broiler production, which the USDA is now forecasting to increase by just 1.2% in 2019. The USDA reduced its 2019 beef output forecast to just 1.6% above 2018 levels, citing a slower pace of cattle slaughter in Q1 2019. Review a summary of USDA price forecasts at: www.mktvsn.com/resources