Corn futures slipped back on Tuesday, with contracts down ¼ to 3 ½ cents in the nearbys. Other contracts were steady to a penny higher. We got confirmation to a slowdown in US planting on Monday, but traders are looking ahead towards a period of drier weather across much of the US beyond this Wednesday through early next week.

The average trade estimate for 2024/25 US corn production is around 14.87 billion bushels, based on wire house surveys.  It can vary a little depending on the mix of analysts and traders included. The WASDE report will be out on Friday.  NASS will not issue corn or soybean production estimates this early. Very few analysts believe the WAOB has adequate information to deviate from the 181 bpa average yield used in February, with a few skewing 2 bpa lower. 

Ahead of Friday’s reports the trade estimated old crop US carryout will be curbed by 28 mbu to 2.094 bbu. The initial new crop number is seen at 2.282 bbu according to a Bloomberg poll of analysts. 

Canadian corn stocks at the end of March were tallied at 8.267 MMT according to Stats Canada, down 8.9% from last year.

May 24 Corn  closed at $4.53 3/4, down 3 1/4 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $4.44 1/1, down 1 7/8 cents,

Jul 24 Corn  closed at $4.67, down 2 cents,

Dec 24 Corn  closed at $4.88 1/2, unch,

New Crop Cash  was $4.52, up 1/8 cent,