Where and when corn grows
US corn is planted in April and May and harvested from September to November, concentrated in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota. Pollination in July is the most weather-sensitive stage: heat and dryness then cut yields more than at any other time.
Brazil grows a first-season crop in the south and a much larger second crop, the safrinha, planted from January to March right after the soybean harvest and harvested from June to August, mainly in Mato Grosso and Paraná. Argentina harvests from March to July, Ukraine from September to November.
Reports that move the market
The benchmark is CBOT corn futures. The key releases:
- USDA WASDE and Crop Production, monthly
- USDA Crop Progress and condition ratings, weekly in season
- USDA Export Sales, weekly
- Prospective Plantings (end of March), Acreage and Grain Stocks (end of June), quarterly Grain Stocks
- CONAB surveys for Brazil's first and second crops
- EIA weekly ethanol production, a proxy for US demand
Weather windows to watch
Spring wetness that delays US planting, July heat during pollination, and the end of the rainy season in central Brazil in April and May, which decides how much water the safrinha gets before it fills.
Following corn in Kommody
Kommody weights weather by corn area across the US, Brazil, Argentina, Ukraine and other producers, tracks speculator positioning in CBOT corn, scores corn news for sentiment and lists the corn reports in the release calendar.
Frequently asked questions
- What is safrinha corn?
- Brazil's second-season corn, planted right after the soybean harvest from January to March and harvested from June to August. It is now the largest part of Brazil's corn crop.
- When is the most important weather period for US corn?
- Pollination in July. Heat and dryness then do the most damage to yields.