USDA's August WASDE lifts corn and soybean forecasts, cuts wheat sharply
USDA's August 2026 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports, published 12 August 2026, raised 2026/27 US corn production to 16.0 billion bushels — the second-largest on record, on a yield of 180.7 bushels per acre — and soybean production to 4.5 billion bushels on a 52.7 bushel-per-acre yield. All-wheat production was cut sharply, to 1.53 billion bushels from 1.99 billion a year earlier. USDA separately lowered its 2026 beef production and cattle price forecasts, citing a slower slaughter pace.
Key facts
- USDA's 12 August 2026 WASDE and Crop Production reports raised 2026/27 US corn production to 16.0 billion bushels (yield 180.7 bu/acre, second-largest on record) and soybean production to 4.5 billion bushels (yield 52.7 bu/acre).
- All-wheat production was cut sharply to 1.53 billion bushels, from 1.99 billion a year earlier; USDA also lowered its 2026 beef production and cattle price forecasts, citing a slower slaughter pace.
WASDE is USDA's monthly benchmark for US and global supply-and-demand estimates across major crops and livestock, and buyers worldwide use it to plan sourcing volumes and set price expectations for the marketing year ahead. This report moves in three different directions at once — corn and soybean supply up, wheat supply down sharply, and beef output trimmed on a slower slaughter pace — so it does not read as a single directional signal for US agricultural exports overall; each commodity's trade implications need to be assessed on its own terms.
The wheat cut is the most abrupt single change in the report, down roughly 23% year over year, and is the figure most likely to move global wheat pricing and sourcing decisions in the near term. The corn and soybean increases, by contrast, point toward continued ample US supply heading into the 2026/27 marketing year, a relevant benchmark for buyers weighing US origin against South American or Black Sea alternatives.
Why it matters
If you buy or compete against US corn, soybeans, wheat or beef, use this report to reset your sourcing and pricing assumptions for the 2026/27 marketing year now — the wheat cut in particular is a large enough single-month move (roughly 23% year over year) to warrant revisiting supply contracts written before 12 August against the prior, higher estimate.