Economics
Viewed From Space, Corn Output Trails Government Estimates
- Analysis shows U.S. production is 2.8% less than expected
- Three counties in Illinois and Indiana post biggest declines
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U.S. corn production is 2.8 percent smaller than government estimates, according to a daily analysis of infrared satellite images taken of more than 1 million corn fields.
The world’s largest corn supplier will have an output this year of 13.3 billion bushels, according to Los Alamos, New Mexico-based Descartes Labs. That compares with 13.34 billion estimated last month by Descartes and the 13.686 billion forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Aug. 12. The latest Descartes number also trails the average estimate of 33 analysts in a Bloomberg survey last week of 13.484 billion.