USDA designates 87 Illinois counties as disaster areas for farm losses from

Overall, corn production is forecast at 13.7 billion bushels, down 4 percent from last year’s record, on 81.1 million acres. Soybean production is projected up 1.1 million tons with higher crops for the United States and Ukraine.

Soybean production was expected to hit 3.92 billion bushels on 46.9 bushels per acre.

Both corn and soybean production figures surprised analysts who were expecting USDA to ratchet down its forecasts to reflect heavy rains that prevented plantings in some areas of the eastern Corn Belt and curtailed yields in others.

Soybean supplies for 2015/16 are projected 16 million bushels above last month based on the higher production forecast.

According to Purdue surveys, 25 percent of the state’s soybean and corn crops are rated “poor” or “very poor”.

Under the secretarial disaster declaration, producers may apply for low-interest emergency loans if they have suffered at least a 30 percent loss in crop production. USDA did cut its forecast of harvested acres some. Spring wheat futures were 6 cents lower as USDA put that crop at 621 million bushels, versus the average trade forecast of 629 million. The Los Alamos, N.M.-based company, founded by a theoretical physicist, predicted output of 13.34 billion bushels, compared with the USDA’s estimate last month of 13.53 billion. Last year, they set produced a record 14.2 billion bushels on 171 bushels an acre, also a record.

U.S. soybean growers are also forecast to reduce their production this year.

Corn yield is down eight percent, and soy bean yield is down four percent. That is especially true for the soybean crop, which undergoes its critical growth stage later in the season than corn. What makes this area an excellent region for crops is the flat land and fertile soil, abundant in organic matter and nitrogen, important for high crop yields.

The wheat ending stocks were fairly neutral at 850 million bushels, just a slight increase from July.

Corn prices rebounded, gaining amid light buying ahead of closely watched report due out from the U.S. Agriculture Department at noon ET. Analysts had expected production to total 3.7 billion bushels on yields of 44.6 bushels an acre.

If that’s not bearish enough, global ending stocks of wheat and feed grains were raised from July estimates.