Feb 20 (Reuters) – U.S. corn stockpiles by the end of the 2015-16 marketing year are likely to decline from a year earlier while domestic soybean stocks should rise, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday at its annual outlook forum.
The USDA projected 2015-16 corn production at 13.595 billion bushels, down 4 percent from the record-large 2014-15 crop of 14.2 billion. The government expects farmers to plant less corn this spring, while it assumed a trend yield of 166.8 bushels per acre, “with an assumed return to more normal growing season weather.”
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Corn ending stocks for 2015-16, the amount left over at the end of the marketing year, were seen at 1.687 billion bushels, down from 1.827 billion for 2014-15.
For soybeans, USDA projected a crop of 3.8 billion bushels, down 4 percent from the record-large 2014-15 harvest, based on an average yield of 46.0 bushels per acre.
The USDA projected a 2015-16 soybean crush of 1.840 billion bushels, up 45 million from 2014-15, while exports reach 1.82 billion bushels. Soybean ending stocks for 2015-16 were projected at 430 million bushels, up from 385 million for 2014-15.
U.S. wheat production was forecast at 2.125 billion bushels, compared with 2.026 billion for 2014-15. Wheat stocks were seen rising to 763 million bushels by the end of 2015-16, from 692 million in 2014-15, despite exports rising to 975 million bushels, from 900 million in 2014-15.
