Winter wheat planted area was estimated at 32.732 million acres, up slightly from last year but the third lowest area on record (including hard red winter at 23.2 million and soft red winter at 5.89 million), durum at 1.887 million acres, down 18%, and other spring wheat at 13.202 million acres, up 20% (including hard red spring at 12.7 million).
Harvested area for winter wheat was forecast at 24.831 million acres, down 2% from 2017 and the lowest area on record, with durum at 1.841 million acres, down 14%, and spring wheat other than durum at 12.899 million acres, up 27%.
The USDA estimated 2018 area planted to corn at 89.128 million acres, down 1% from 2017. Harvested area was forecast at 81.77 million acres, also down 1%.
The USDA estimates for corn and all wheat were above the average of trade expectations, but soybean and durum estimates were below the trade averages.
The USDA, in its Grain Stocks report, estimated June 1 old-crop all wheat stocks at 1.1 billion bushels, down 7% from June 1, 2017, including 130 million bushels on farms, down 32%, and 970 million bushels off farms, down 2%. Durum stocks were 35.9 million bushels, down 1%.
Corn stocks in all positions on June 1 were estimated at 5.306 billion bushels, up 1% from a year earlier, including 2.75 billion bushels on farms, down 3%, and 2.556 billion bushels off farms, up 7%.
Soybean stocks on June 1 were estimated at 1.222 billion bushels, up 26% from last year, with on-farm stocks at 377 million bushels, up 13%, and off-farm stocks at 845 million bushels, up 33%.
Wheat, corn and soy complex futures all traded higher after the reports, with winter wheat contracts up about 20¢ a bushel, soybeans up about 10¢, and corn and spring wheat up about 5¢.
