The USDA World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimate for this month shows even more corn than the last report, causing greater concerns among corn growers worried about the demand and price situation going forward and further highlighting the need for year-round, nationwide E15.
The USDA reports the 2025/26 corn outlook is for larger production, higher feed and residual use, reduced food, seed, and industrial use, and greater ending stocks. “Corn production is estimated at 17.0 billion bushels, up 269 million on a 0.5-bushel increase in yield to 186.5 bushels per acre and a 1.3-million acre rise in harvested area. Since the July 2025 WASDE, harvested area has surged 4.5 million acres. Notably, the record crop in 2025 exceeds the prior high set in 2023 by 1.7 billion bushels or over 40 million tons.”
Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says the report underscores the pressing need to eliminate regulatory obstacles that are suppressing demand and limiting market opportunities for corn and ethanol alike.
“Today’s surprise USDA report serves as a sobering wake-up call about the state of farm economy and underscores the need for lawmakers to take immediate action to expand markets for America’s corn growers,” said Cooper. “The fastest and easiest way to shore up the growing supply-demand imbalance in the corn market is to permanently remove the summertime barrier on E15 sales and eliminate obsolete fuel retail infrastructure rules. These decades-old regulatory barriers are literally choking off demand and shortchanging America’s farmers.”
The National Corn Growers Association says the surplus supply promises to keep corn prices low as farmers struggle to pay high input costs. “We need long-term market solutions, and we need them quickly, or this is going to deepen the economic crisis in the countryside,” said Ohio farmer and NCGA President Jed Bower. “The urgency for Congress and the president to open new markets abroad and expand consumer access to ethanol just increased exponentially.”
Bower noted that an immediate boost to demand would be the passage of legislation authorizing year-round consumer access to fuels with 15% ethanol blends. He says this solution comes at no cost to consumers, requires no additional infrastructure developments and could use 2.4 billion additional bushels of corn annually at full implementation, according to NCGA estimates.