# What Was Behind USDA’s Big Corn Yield Cut? USDA Chief Economist Explains - AgWeb

> USDA's January reports cut the corn yield by 3.8 bpa and lowered September 1 corn stocks by 76 million bushels. StoneX's Arlan Suderman says corn is now competing with soybeans for speculative money. Russia also nearly doubled its wheat export tax.

- Date: 2021-01-15 · published 2021-01-15T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: report · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/48998-what-was-behind-usda-s-big-corn-yield-cut-usda-chief-economist-explains-agweb
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Wheat (SRW)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WHEAT.md)

## Why it matters

A tighter corn balance sheet combined with the Russian wheat export tax raises the cost of feed grains and wheat. Corn and wheat are now exposed to the same speculative flows as soybeans.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bullish ▲
- CORN: bullish ▲
- WHEAT: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2025-09-12 | [Corn and Soybeans Rally on USDA Yield Cuts, China Hopes: Are Further Cuts Coming? - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6854-corn-and-soybeans-rally-on-usda-yield-cuts-china-hopes-are-further-cuts-coming.md) | +5.1% | +3.6% |
| CORN | 2024-11-08 | [USDA Surprisingly Lowers Corn and Soybean Yield and Ending Stocks in WASDE - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/13135-usda-surprisingly-lowers-corn-and-soybean-yield-and-ending-stocks-in-wasde-agweb.md) | -1.4% | -2.0% |
| CORN | 2020-09-30 | [Big gains in corn, soybeans, wheat after USDA numbers - Brownfield Ag News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/8791-big-gains-in-corn-soybeans-wheat-after-usda-numbers-brownfield-ag-news.md) | +1.5% | +11.3% |
| CORN | 2023-10-13 | [What Was So Bullish About the October USDA Reports? - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/33586-what-was-so-bullish-about-the-october-usda-reports-agweb.md) | +0.2% | -3.5% |
| CORN | 2026-02-19 | [USDA chief economist: Economic headwinds to ease slightly in 2026 \| Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.](https://feedsoft.ai/events/20622-usda-chief-economist-economic-headwinds-to-ease-slightly-in-2026-agri-pulse.md) | +0.6% | +7.4% |
| SOY | 2025-09-12 | [Corn and Soybeans Rally on USDA Yield Cuts, China Hopes: Are Further Cuts Coming? - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6854-corn-and-soybeans-rally-on-usda-yield-cuts-china-hopes-are-further-cuts-coming.md) | +2.2% | +0.7% |
| SOY | 2024-11-08 | [USDA Surprisingly Lowers Corn and Soybean Yield and Ending Stocks in WASDE - AgWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/13135-usda-surprisingly-lowers-corn-and-soybean-yield-and-ending-stocks-in-wasde-agweb.md) | -2.9% | -2.1% |
| SOY | 2021-11-09 | [USDA Expects Record-High Corn Yield](https://feedsoft.ai/events/43999-usda-expects-record-high-corn-yield.md) | +6.7% | +6.1% |

## Sources

- agweb.com: https://www.agweb.com/news/crops/corn/what-was-behind-usdas-big-corn-yield-cut-usda-chief-economist-explains

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.