US corn stocks set December 1 record after huge harvest, USDA says

U.S. grain companies and farmers 'held the most corn in storage ever as of December 1', the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Monday. This comes after last year's record-breaking harvest that was even bigger than expected.

In a report for the third quarter,?the USDA estimated December 1 stocks to be 13.282 billion bushels, an increase from 12.075 million bushels one year ago. A poll showed that analysts?expected 12,962 billion bushels.

In a report published monthly, the?agency estimated corn production at 17,021 billion bushels compared to 16.752 billion bushels it had predicted in December. The crop's average yield was 186.5 bushels/acre, an increase from 186 bushels back in December.

Analysts expected a decrease in output due to a dry growing season. On average, ?analysts projected a 16.552-billion-bushel harvest, with an average yield ?of 184 bushels per acres, according to a

Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade dropped 17-1/2 cents, to $4.28-1/4 a bushel. Reporting by Tom Polansek

(source: Reuters)