The May Feed Outlook report shows global coarse grains supply in 2026-27 is projected at 2,156 million metric tons (MT), 15 million MT lower than 2025-26. Spurring the projected supply decrease are expected declines in production, particularly in the U.S. but with notable declines in other major producing countries, including the European Union and Argentina. These declines are partially offset by projected production increases in China, Brazil, India and elsewhere. On net, 2026-27 global coarse grains production is expected to fall 18 million MT to 1,589 million MT. Global coarse grains use, meanwhile, is expected to increase marginally (up 7 million MT) to 1,608 million MT. Larger projected use increases are seen in Brazil, China and India, while the larger decreases are seen in the U.S., Argentina and Australia. Global coarse grains ending stocks for 2026-27 are forecast at 309 million MT, down 20 million MT from 2025-26.
For 2026-27, the U.S. corn crop is forecast at 16 billion bushels, 1 billion bushels or 6% below the 2025-26 record production. Based on the March Prospective Plantings report from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), corn-planted acreage is expected to be 95.3 million acres, 3.5 million acres less than 2025-26. After accounting for historical abandonment rates and silage acres, the 2026-27 harvested acreage for corn is forecast at 87.4 million acres, a 4% decrease from 2025-26.
Yields, meanwhile, are expected to fall from a record high of 186.5 bushels per acre to 183 bushels per acre, on the assumption of normal weather conditions throughout the growing season. Despite the decrease from 2025-26, forecast 2026-27 corn production would be the second largest on record. Combined with a forecast for elevated beginning stocks – the largest since 2019-20 – and a marginal contribution from imports, 2026-27 total corn supply would also be the second largest on record behind the prior year.
Total corn use in 2026-27 is also forecast to fall below 2025-26 levels. This decrease stems from expected lower exports and feed residual use, both of which are forecast to see record-high levels in 2025-26 at 3.3 billion and 6.2 billion bushels, respectively. Though 2026-27 corn exports are expected to fall to 3.15 billion bushels, this would still represent the second-largest export total on record. Exports are expected to remain elevated in 2026-27 (compared to the 10-year average) as global feed use of coarse grains is expected to increase, including within some of the key destination countries for U.S. corn exports. Mexico, for example, has accounted for 32% of U.S. 2025-26 corn exports through March 2026 and is projected to see coarse grains feed usage expand 2% in 2026-27. Meanwhile, coarse grains production in Mexico is expected to decline 3% in 2026-27.
Find additional information on the USDA Feed Outlook report from May.
