Record-high corn and bean yields this year have led to some crops being piled on the ground, depressing prices and causing much angst among farmers.
Corn production, as of October, was pegged at a record 15.1 billion bushels on yields of 173.4 bushels an acre, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Stockpiles at the end of the current marketing year that started September 1 were pegged at 2.23 billion bushels, up 17% from the prior year.
Soybean output was forecast by the USDA at 4.27 billion bushels on yields of 51.4 bushels an acre, also both records, according to the USDA. Inventories at the end of the marketing year will total 395 million bushels, more than double the prior year’s 197 million.
Now that the corn and soybean crops are in bins, or in some cases piled on the ground, the next logical question on the minds of producers, traders, and government officials: What will growers do with the record amount of grains and oilseeds they’ve produced this year?
“It’s always a concern, especially in this environment” with record crops, low commodity prices, and high input costs, said Jamie Walter, who farms about 2,000 acres with his family near DeKalb, Illinois. “We’re looking at strong (export) markets here recently, and that gives me some optimism, but some of these livestock markets aren’t as strong as they could be.”
The good news for farmers is that while output is the highest ever, so is consumption.
Corn use is expected to jump to a record 14.5 billion bushels, the USDA said. Of that, 5.65 billion bushels will be used to feed livestock, 5.55 billion will go into ethanol production, and 2.23 billion bushels will be exported, according to the government.
Soybean consumption including exports is expected to total 4.1 billion bushels, also the most-ever, as 1.95 billion will be crushed for domestic use and 2.03 billion bushels will be exported, USDA data show.
Analysts interviewed by Successful Farming Magazine said they expect demand for corn to be used in ethanol and livestock feed to increase in the next six to eight months, while overseas demand for soybeans will remain strong.
Phil Flynn, an analyst who covers energy commodities at Price Futures Group in Chicago, said he expects oil prices to peak at about $80 a barrel next year and spend most of 2017 in the $60s and $70s as global producers cut production. Higher oil prices tend to mean higher gasoline prices, leading consumers to use fuel with higher ethanol blends that generally cost less.
Producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have been working to hammer out a deal to curb or freeze output in a bid to raise oil prices. Once the details of that accord are worked out, prices likely will rise due to decreased output globally, Flynn said.
Along with increased demand for oil comes increased use of gasoline and, in the U.S., additives including corn-based ethanol, Flynn said.
“My sense is that the demand for oil is going to be strong, which means the demand for gasoline is going to be strong, and that would suggest more ethanol use next year,” Flynn said. “Oil will lead the way for ethanol. Ethanol demand will be higher next year.”
Ethanol production in the U.S. has ticked up steadily for the past several years, peaking in August at an average of about 1.03 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Corn use in feed rations for livestock also is expected to rise going into next year as more animals are put in feedlots. The number of cattle on feed at the start of September rose 1% from the same date a year earlier, and the number of young cows put into feedyards in August jumped 15% year over year, according to the USDA.
The number of cattle being fed has jumped after producers decided to increase the size of their herds after droughts in Southern states abated two years ago, allowing cattle to graze fields that finally had grass again. That, in turn, has led to a glut of animals ready for feedlots.
While that’s bad news for cattle producers, it’s good news for corn farmers who have extra corn they need to use, said Lane Broadbent, the president of KIS Futures in Oklahoma City. To compensate for lower corn and fed-cattle prices, farmer-feeders in northern states likely will try to maximize profits by feeding their grain to livestock, he said.
“With this cattle market so low, you’re going to see some farmer-feeders up north increase feeding – that’s the only way they see way out of it – to feed this corn,” Broadbent said. “So we’ll have some demand on that end as guys feeding more and more, trying to push that corn through the cattle.”
The hog herd also has grown in size in the past year. Inventories of hogs and pigs on September 1 totaled 70.9 million head, up 2% from the same date a year earlier and up 4% from June 1, according to the USDA. Breeding inventories rose 1%, and market-ready inventory was up 3% year-over-year. The average number of pigs per litter