Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 9/10/10

USDA raised its average corn price forecast to a range of $4.00 to $4.80 per bushel from $3.50 to $4.10 for the 2010/11 marketing year that began Sept. 1.

The higher price forecasts came as it lowered its forecasts for U.S. corn production by 2 percent and lowered its corn ending stocks estimate based on expected lower yields and higher corn exports.

Even though the corn crop, now predicted at 13.2 billion bushels, would still be a record, corn stocks as a percentage of total use could be the lowest since the 1995/96 crop year, USDA predicted in its World Supply and Demand Estimates and Crop Production reports.

Soybeans
USDA raised its soybean crop forecast, but the prospects of stronger exports will deplete supplies, leading the agency to raise its projected 2010/11 average soybean price by 65 cents per bushel on both ends to a range of $9.15 to $10.65 per bushel.

The agency raised its soybean meal price forecast by $20 on both ends to range of $270 to $310 per ton.
Deutsche Bank analyst Christina McGlone called the higher corn costs negative for protein companies.

 She also noted, however, those high costs contribute to curtailed meat production, which raises meat prices and could then become positive for companies like Tyson Foods, Sanderson Farms and Hormel Foods.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.