Wheat, corn and soybean stocks rise year‑over‑year, NASS reports

Patrick Boyle of NASS presented the Grain Stocks highlights for September, reporting higher year‑over‑year stocks for wheat, corn and soybeans and noting the figures align broadly with industry expectations.

NASS reported total wheat stocks at just under 2.0 billion bushels (about 1.99 billion), an increase of 12.4% (roughly 219 million bushels) from 2023. On‑farm wheat stocks were up about 11% and off‑farm stocks up 13.1%.

For corn, total stocks were reported at about 1.76 billion bushels, an increase of roughly 29.4% (about 400 million bushels) from a year earlier; on‑farm and off‑farm inventories rose roughly 29% each. June–August disappearance for corn was 3.24 billion bushels, up about 18% from the prior year. Boyle said small adjustments to production and ending‑stocks in the balance sheet were made based on final administrative acreage data and WASDE comparisons, and cautioned that some numbers may change in the next monthly release.

Soybean total stocks were reported at 342 million bushels, up about 29.5% (around 78 million bushels) year‑over‑year; on‑farm soybean stocks rose 54.4% while off‑farm stocks rose 20.1%. NASS noted the September estimate is the highest ending stocks for soybeans since the 2019–20 marketing year.

Boyle also presented shorter summaries for other commodities: barley stocks were down 14.3% year‑over‑year (on‑farm down 27.3% but off‑farm up 14.7%), oats were down 13.4%, safflower stocks rose 82.5%, sorghum stocks rose 26% and sunflower stocks rose 57.2% and ranked fourth highest on record for September.

NASS emphasized that September marks the end of the marketing year for corn and soybeans and reiterated that these are principal federal economic indicator releases; users were reminded to consult the official published estimates and that a stat‑chat event with NASS staff would be held at 1:00 p.m. Eastern to take additional questions.