USDA’s forecast for U.S. corn use in 2020/21 may be as over-optimistic as its prediction for 2019/20 corn exports, but at this juncture prices have not worked as low as WPI is thinking they should go. In relative terms, the 2020/21 stocks to use ratio is well below levels experienced in the mid-1980’s and no one wants to relive those days. They required the introduction of supply controls and involved a lot of bankruptcies.  More instructive from the historical perspective is that large ending stocks eventually decline but sharp drops are not the norm. The 70 percent drop between 1982/83 and 1983/84 was due to one of the most severe droughts of the century and not because of a miraculous burst in demand. This may not even...

TAGS – Feed Grains, North America