Watcher, Thanks for some intriguing conversation !

Who'd of thought the USDA has a Corn Briefing Room

Tons of great data, lots of links for old NCOs to research , but the majority is far more optimistic than the recent articles.


Ethanol Expansion in the United States: How Will the Agricultural Sector Adjust? examines effects of the expansion in U.S. ethanol production. Market impacts extend well beyond corn, the primary feedstock for ethanol in the United States, to supply and demand for other crops, such as soybeans and cotton, as well as to U.S. livestock industries. As a consequence of these commodity market impacts, farm income, government payments, and food prices also change. See narrated slideshow for an overview; see related Amber Waves feature U.S. Ethanol Expansion Driving Changes Throughout the Agricultural Sector.
More interesting is how Argentina simply stands back and watches our corn production (supply and demand) and adjusts "fire" errr production.

World Corn Trade

While the United States dominates world corn trade, exports only account for a relatively small portion of demand for U.S. corn—about 20 percent. This means that corn prices are largely determined by supply-and-demand relationships in the U.S. market, and the rest of the world must adjust to prevailing U.S. prices. This makes world corn trade and prices very dependent on weather in the U.S. Corn Belt. However, Argentina, the second-largest corn exporter in most years, is in the Southern Hemisphere. Farmers there plant their corn after the size of the U.S. crop is known, providing a quick, market-oriented supply response to short U.S. crops.