Corn futures climbed above $5 per bushel, reaching their highest level since July 2023, as growing worries over US crop yields signaled tighter supplies ahead. The Pro Farmer Crop Tour recently pegged the 2026 US corn yield at 173.2 bushels per acre, significantly below the USDA’s latest estimate of 180.7 bushels per acre, with total production projected at 15.34 billion bushels.
The increasingly bearish supply outlook was underscored by the USDA’s most recent crop report, which showed the share of corn rated good-to-excellent falling three percentage points to 57% for the week ended August 23. Weather conditions remain a critical factor, as heat stress and excessive rainfall across parts of the Midwest threaten to curb yields as harvest approaches.
At the same time, US corn export inspections remain robust. Cumulative shipments are up 26% from a year earlier, even though weekly volumes have recently eased to 1.3 million tonnes. On the global front, ongoing disruptions to Black Sea grain shipments continue to fuel concerns about worldwide supply availability.
