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Ethanol, livestock cheer higher corn numbers

The first guess of 2012 corn production in yesterday’s USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report was 14.8 billion bushels, higher than many in the industry expected.

Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association had this reaction.

“We’re always cautious, in general, when USDA puts these early numbers out.  We obviously have a long time to go between now and September-October—and a lot of things can change,” Cooper says. “But, you know, we think it just shows what the potential for this year’s crop can be under kind of normal conditions.

“By all accounts, it could be a monster.”

USDA also predicts a one billion bushel build-up in corn stocks by the end of the next marketing year, to nearly 1.9 billion bushels.  

USDA grains analyst Jerry Norton says if that happens, he would expect to see a significant recovery in corn feeding by the livestock and poultry industries.

“Certainly this opens the opportunity for some increased profitability in those livestock sectors that have struggled over the last few years,” Norton says.

The increase in the 2012 corn crop projection was in  part due to yield increasing from 164 to 166 bushels per acre.