USDA Crop Report Has Good News for Livestock Producers

Friday's results of the USDA Crop Production and World Supply and Demand Estimate Report projects a record corn crop and third highest soybean crop. USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber says

Glauber: "What was striking to me in today's briefing was how many global crops are seeing record crops --you are talking about a global wheat crop, a global corn crop, a global rice crop, a record soy crop as well."

USDA projecting that this season's corn crop to drop by 35 percent, but Glauber says.

Glauber: "But you are still at levels that are considerably - over twice the levels they were in 98 to 2002 in that period where you were looking at corn prices in the $2 to $2.10 range."

Though corn producers aren't happy with the news of record crop and lower prices, it is music to the ears of livestock producers that have been enduring high feed prices over the last several years. Glauber adds

Glauber: "We've seen the margins really improve since the harvest started. Certainly we're predicting last spring but we were predicting that two springs ago as well when we had a pretty big drought of course and it didn't materialize last year. But this year we are certainly seeing now product prices still remain high for most livestock, dairy and poultry products but feed costs are coming down a lot and that is very positive. "