Missouri Mirrors National Grain Stocks Decline

Grain stored in Missouri’s silos reflected not just the decline in production locally, but also nationwide trends. USDA’s quarterly report released Friday indicated that the state had 336.8 million bushels of corn on hand as of December first, down 2.5 percent from a year ago. Ten million fewer bushels were on the farm compared to 2018, while the amount in the state’s elevators were about steady. Despite the sharp drop in production, soybean stocks were down by just 2.8 million bushels, at 188.7 million. Elevator supplies were slightly higher than a year ago at 73.7 million. By comparison, nationwide stocks of corn were down five percent from a year ago at 11.4 billion bushels, while soybean stocks dropped 13 percent to 3.25 billion.

Wheat stocks in Missouri were down over a third from a year ago. The state started December with 17.7 million bushels on hand, down almost 10 million bushels, as 2.1 million bushels were still on the farm. Nearly 8.8 million bushels left the state over the fall. Missouri had 766,000 bushels of sorghum on hand, half of last year’s figure. Nationwide wheat stocks dropped nine percent to 1.83 billion bushels, aided by a 35-percent increase in disappearance over the fall. Nearly a quarter-billion bushels of sorghum were in storage to start December, down four percent.