USDA: Upcoming WASDE Important For A Variety of Reasons

Every May's USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates are important.  The figures provide not only a first look at the new marketing year for spring-planted crops, but it also serves as an initial marketing year prospective on global crop production and supplies as well.  World Agricultural Outlook Board Chair Seth Meyer used future Brazilian corn crops as an example.

"We're looking out into the future and it's absolutely important, because when we look at the U.S. crop, we have to look at trade in the second half of the marketing year for the crop that will be harvested this fall.  And that'll be impacted by that crop.  We see in Brazil, way out there, the farmers have not even finished up the crop year in South America, so these tend to be highly speculative. But we put a marker out there so folks can see our entire projection and get an idea of what we are thinking."

The May estimates also indicate global consumption of most commodities will exceed production, which means reduced supplies for 2018/19.

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