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Schnitkey doubts corn yields can reach USDA estimate

University of Illinois farm management specialist Gary Schnitkey expects 2019 corn yields to be lower than USDA’s latest forecast of nearly 170 bushels per acre.

“I think that number could go down. And you’ve got to remember that we’re just ending pollination, or still in pollination on a lot of those corn acres. So this would be like trying to take yield estimates at the beginning of July.”

He tells Brownfield with a lot of season remaining, there are many events that could be detrimental to crop development.

“So I think there’s a lot of downside in those corn yield numbers yet.”

Schnitkey says the likelihood of below trendline yields does bode well for corn prices that have suffered as a result of USDA’s latest crop estimates.