How to Read the USDA Grain Stocks Report — Corn, Soybean and Wheat Stocks On and Off Farms

As of 1 November 2026, 00:25 KST; most recently published report: Grain Stocks, released September 30, 2026, by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), with U.S. and state stocks of corn, soybeans, wheat and other grains on September 1, 2026. The NASS September 2026 calendar lists the release at 12:00 pm ET; the report says the December 1 report is published in January, and the publication page listed no upcoming date when checked. Primary source: https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/release-files/796087/grst0926_0.txt^[1][2][3]

Comparison basis: levels are as published in thousand bushels; June 1, 2026 values are those printed in the September 30 report, which NASS says are subject to revision the quarter after first publication. Quarterly changes follow the crop calendar and are not compared as percentages; the table gives the published disappearance figure for corn rather than a percentage. Year-ago changes are the report's whole percentages and this page's calculation rounded to one decimal. The report, publication page and calendar are all from USDA and count as one source.^[1]

In three lines

1. The quarterly NASS report estimates grain and oilseed stocks held on farms and off farms in the United States on the first of March, June, September and December.
2. On September 1, 2026, U.S. old-crop corn stocks were 2.10 billion bushels, up 35% from a year earlier; soybeans were 315 million bushels, down 3%.
3. All wheat stocks were 1.85 billion bushels, down 14% from September 1, 2025.^[1]

"Old crop corn stocks in all positions on September 1, 2026 totaled 2.10 billion bushels, up 35 percent from September 1, 2025." "Of the total, 787 million bushels are stored on-farm and 1.31 billion bushels were stored off-farm." "June - August 2026 indicated disappearance is 3.20 billion bushels, compared with 3.10 billion bushels during the same period a year ago." "Old crop soybean stocks in all positions on September 1, 2026 totaled 315 million bushels, down 3 percent from September 1, 2025." "All wheat stocks in all positions on September 1, 2026 totaled 1.85 billion bushels, down 14 percent from September 1, 2025."^[1]

How the count is made. "The grain stocks estimates in this report are based on surveys conducted during the first two weeks of September." "Separate surveys are conducted to obtain the on-farm and off-farm estimates." The on-farm survey is a probability survey with a sample of approximately 66,600 producers, drawn from a list that gives every U.S. operation a chance of selection. "The off-farm stocks survey is an enumeration of all known commercial grain storage facilities." "This includes approximately 7,800 facilities with 11.9 billion bushels of storage capacity." "Reports of stock holdings are normally received from operations covering about 90 percent of the capacity." "After estimates are made for on-farm and off-farm stocks, the totals of these two are combined and evaluated using the balance sheet approach."^[1]

What off-farm means. The off-farm column footnote reads: "Includes stocks at mills, elevators, warehouses, terminals, and processors."^[1]

On farm vs off farm. Of the 2,095,057 thousand bushels of corn on September 1, 2026, 1,307,757 (62.4%, this page's calculation) were off farms; off-farm corn stocks were 44.0% above a year earlier and on-farm stocks 22.4% above (this page's calculation).^[1]

Sampling error applies to on-farm stocks. "The on-farm stocks estimates are subject to sampling variability because all operations holding on-farm stocks are not included in the sample." "This variability, as measured by the relative standard error at the United States level, is approximately 2.5 percent for corn, 5.5 percent for soybeans, and 2.6 percent for all wheat." The off-farm survey is an enumeration of known facilities, so these relative standard errors describe only the on-farm part of the level; they are not a test of whether the 35% year-ago rise in corn stocks is significant.^[1]

Stocks vs production. The September report also prints 2025 production: corn for grain 16,963,628 thousand bushels on 90,948 thousand harvested acres (yield 186.5 bushels). Stocks are a point-in-time count; the report checks them against production and use with a balance sheet but does not explain why stocks are higher or lower than a year earlier.^[1]

First print vs revised. "On-farm and off-farm stocks are subject to revision the quarter following initial publication and again in the following December 1 Grain Stocks report published in January each year." The June 1 figures shown here are those printed in the September report.^[1]