Darrel Good Implies Quotations

Based on the relationship between the stocks-to-use ratio and price since 1998-99, a price of $2.51 implies a 2006-07 year-ending stocks-to-use ratio of 8.8 percent. In comparison, the current projection of the stocks-to-use ratio for the 2005-06 marketing year is 22.4 percent.

A stocks-to-use ration of 8.8 percent, then, means 2006-07 year-ending stocks of 1.047 billion bushels, implying a crop of 9.966 billion bushels. That is, the market appears to be trading a 2006 corn crop that is 1.146 billion bushels, or 10.3 percent, smaller than the 2005 crop. That calculation is obviously sensitive to the forecast of use. A smaller forecast of use implies a smaller crop and vice versa.