Corn found support last week with weather dominating trade early in the week and the July WASDE adding strength late in the week. September futures ended the week 16 higher while December and March futures closed 18 and 19 higher respectively. The funds ended the week long 1,001 corn contracts and long 64,579 soybean contracts.
The USDA released their July WASDE report on Friday in which it tightened corn supply. The 2025/26 corn balance sheet called for feed and residual use to increase by 150 million bushels, which was slightly offset by the decrease in corn used for ethanol which was down 25 million. Beginning stocks for 2026/27 were lowered to 2.02 billion bushels, reflecting the changes in the 2025/26 carry over while production increased marginally to 16 billion bushels. As expected, yield was unchanged at 183.0 bushels per acre. Total use increased 50 million bushels due to increased exports with higher global demand. New crop ending stocks decreased 170 million bushels to 1.79 billion. The stock-to-use ratio dropped to 11.01%.
USDA 2025/26 Carryout (Billion Bushels)
| USDA July | Average Estimate | USDA June | |
| Corn | 2.020 | 2.073 | 2.145 |
| Soybeans | .330 | .338 | .340 |
USDA 2026 US Yield (Bushels per Acre)
| USDA July | Average Estimate | USDA June | |
| Corn | 183.0 | 182.9 | 183.0 |
| Soybeans | 53.0 | 53.0 | 53.0 |
USDA 2026 US Production (Billion Bushels)
| USDA July | Average Estimate | USDA June | |
| Corn | 16.000 | 15.975 | 15.995 |
| Soybeans | 4.475 | 4.459 | 4.435 |
USDA 2026/267Carryout (Billion Bushels)
| USDA July | Average Estimate | USDA June | |
| Corn | 1.790 | 1.873 | 1.960 |
| Soybeans | .310 | .330 | .310 |
| Wheat | .722 | .714 | .744 |
Last week’s crop progress report was unchanged with 67% of the crop reported in the Good/Excellent category. This is above the five-year average by 2% but slightly behind last year’s 74%.
It’s going to be hot in the Plains next week, which can edge yields back. The massive dome that was forecasted early last week did not develop, maybe it will later as ridges tend to return a couple times throughout the summer. The EU has a major weather issue that has real teeth. They have lost a lot of their crops with hot and dry weather that has lingered; it looks as extreme for them as our 2012 crop year. Keep an eye on weather forecast as they change frequently this time of year and can have dramatic impacts on the markets as traders move positions.
Upcoming reports
| Date | Report |
| 7/13/2026 | Crop Progress |
| 8/12/2026 | Crop Production |
| 9/7/2026 | No Markets |
| 9/11/2026 | Crop Production |
| 9/30/2026 | Quarterly Stocks |
