Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 10/1/19

The department on Monday released its quarterly report on grain stocks, showing a shrinking corn supply and soybean stocks that were smaller than expected — but still a record-high. Both forecasts were seen as positive news by ag commodity traders, boosting corn and soybean prices.

By the numbers: Soybean stocks as of Sept. 1 were 913 million bushels — a 108 percent increase compared with 2018. Still, the total supply was smaller than the market estimate of 982 million bushels.
— Illinois and Iowa accounted for 346 million bushels, combined. On-farm soybean stocks in particular were up 162 percent this year to 265 million bushels.

USDA pegged the corn supply at 2.11 billion bushels, a 1 percent drop from Sept. 1, 2018, and lower than trade expectations around 2.43 billion bushels. Scott Irwin, an ag economist at the University of Illinois, called the surprise number "a shocker from any historical perspective" in a Twitter thread. Corn and soybean prices reached their highest levels in weeks from the news.