Your Pro Farmer newsletter (June 8, 2024) is now available

The U.S. corn crop is off to a strong start, with 75% rated “good” to “excellent” at the beginning of June. That strong rating signals there’s roughly 50% odds of a record yield this year. But as noted in your May 18 newsletter, our research showed there has never been a record yield when corn planting was behind average as of May 11, as it was this year. Summer weather will likely be the deciding factor in which prevails. But barring extreme summer crop stress, it appears the corn yield won’t be much below last year’s record of 177.3 bu. per acre — and a new high definitely can’t be ruled out. The U.S. spring wheat crop is also off to a strong start. USDA’s initial soybean crop ratings will be released June 10. Russia’s wheat crop estimates continue to decline, but a rapid U.S. winter wheat harvest pace is pressuring the market. Attention will be on weather and USDA’s June 12 crop reports in the week ahead. We cover all of these items and much more in this week’s newsletter, which you can download here.