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USDA crop projections verified in fields

A market analyst says harvest results are starting to verify USDA’s record soybean projections.

Kluis Commodities president Al Kluis tells Brownfield he wouldn’t be surprised if the next round of numbers goes even higher.

“I’d say 80 percent of the farms we work with in southern Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi (and) Missouri reporting the best yields ever.”

The latest USDA production estimates peg soybeans at 4.2 billion bushels on what would be a record 50.6 bushels per acre.

Kluis says strong demand is supporting prices in the face of growing supplies.

“Each day we see a lot of soybeans being sold to China, unknown or Taiwan (and) we have a record crop.  But I think the commercials really going to need to be aggressively buying these soybeans to fill export needs.”

Kluis says the U.S. remains the only store in town for soybean exports until the next South American crop comes on line, probably sometime in February.