Monday, July 30, 2012

Major Forecaster Cuts Corn Estimates

From Agrimoney:

Grain prices bounce on lowball Lanworth yield data
Grain and oilseed prices revived as Lanworth lowered the bar further on US corn yield forecast, putting it on course for a 17-year low, and hopes faded for crop-stabilising rains in the drought-hit Midwest.
Corn for August delivery jumped back above $8.00 a bushel at one point, with wheat retaking the $9-a-bushel mark and soybeans gaining nearly 3%, as already-poor expectations for the US corn crop took a further knock.
 Lanworth - whose forecasts, which employ advanced analysis satellite imagery, are closely watched by traders – slashed its estimate for the US corn yield to 122.0 bushels per acre, from an estimate last month of 136.8-157.4 bushels per acre.
The forecast would represent the weakest result since 1995, and is lower than estimates from many other analysts, although a crop  tour by broker Doane pegged the yield in Iowa at 117 bushels per acre....MORE