USDA raises US corn, soybean harvest outlook

CHICAGO: The US Agriculture Department on Wednesday issued a surprise increase to its corn harvest forecast due to an outlook for record yields in key production areas such as Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Indiana.

The government also raised it outlook for soybean production and yields to record levels.

In its monthly supply and demand report, USDA pegged the 2018/19 corn harvest at 14.827 billion bushels, based on an average yield of 181.3 bushels per acre. Soybean production was seen at 4.693 billion bushels, based on average yields of 52.8 bushels per acre.

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures dropped 3.2 percent to their lowest in nearly two months after the report was released while soybeans turned higher.