USDA 2023 forecasts: colossal crops, measly prices and little backslapping

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report confirmed that a freight train of grain is barreling toward 2023-24 markets and farmers everywhere need to prepare for the rockier prices sure to follow in its wake.

The corn carryover is 805 mb higher, or 68 percent, than the 2022 carryover and the soybean carryover is 119 mb higher, or 55 percent larger.

gets. If good weather boosts either crop’s final production — a hard number not known until November — carryover will climb even higher, average prices will fall, and farm income will slip even lower.

ment forecasts didn’t say “could” at all. Instead, drought or no drought, the WASDE pegged 2023-24 wheat prices at $8 per bushel, or 85 cents lower than last year’s average price.

FARM & FOOD FILE

By Alan Guebert

The report was succinctly summarized by DTN market analysts shortly after its release May 12: “USDA projects farmers are in the midst of planting the country’s largest corn crop on record at 15.265 billion bushels (bb) and a record soybean crop at 4.51 bb…”