Corn growers got the world market viewpoint today at the Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies from Bill Tierney, Chief Economist, AgResource Company. I spoke with him after his presentation. China was a market he spoke about and I was fascinated to learn that the average holding of corn there is about 10-12 feet wide by about 60-100 feet! Bill says, “When you have such a small level of production which contributes very little to farm income the incentive to make investments in yield enhancing technology, better seed, better fertilizer, just isn’t there.” As he puts it, “Farming’s not big business in China.”
I asked him about the current domestic corn crop situation in light of today’s USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate. He says that although USDA’s average corn yield estimate was lower than market expectations it was relatively close to models his company follows. He says that with the weather we’ve been having and the direction the corn crop is going those estimates will be even lower. He thinks USDA did their job right on this estimate.
Bill says the highs we’ll see in the market will probably come in the next two to four weeks, “It will probably come when the market feels confident that the damage to the crop has stopped.” He doesn’t think the market feels that way yet. He says they think this will be a multi year high. Listen to my interview with Bill to get more of his thoughts and a recommendation for growers to consider: Interview with Bill Tierney