The April Edition of the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) from USDA looked much like the March edition. The 2025/26 US ending stocks for corn, soybean, and cotton were unchanged from the March 2026 report. U.S. wheat ending stocks were slightly higher than the previous month. Globally, corn, wheat, and cotton ending stocks increased for the 2025/26 marketing year while soybean stocks decreased slightly. While U.S. supply and demand appear stable, the market reaction is not.
USDA increased the season average price projections for corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. U.S. Marketing-year weighted average price received by farmers
| Mar 2026 Projection | Apr 2026Projection | |
| Corn | $4.10 | $4.15 |
| Soybeans | $10.20 | $10.30 |
| Wheat | $4.95 | $5.00 |
| Cotton | $0.60 | $0.61 |
The price increase is helpful for U.S. producers with unpriced production. However, the increase in the marketing year average (MYA) price will reduce the USDA’s 2025 Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payments for these crops, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2. USDA Projected 2025 PLC Payment Rates
| Mar 2026 Projection | Apr 2026 Projection | Change | |
| Corn (bu) | $0.32 | $0.27 | -15.6% |
| Soybeans (bu) | $0.51 | $0.41 | -19.6% |
| Wheat (bu) | $1.40 | $1.35 | -3.6% |
| Seedcotton (lb) | $0.0908 | $0.0851 | -6.3% |
Reduced PLC payments in the fall of 2026 will shrink revenue for producers already struggling with increased input prices. While the PLC payment rates have fallen for these crops, actual payments for the 2025 crop year will be based on the higher of the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or PLC payment rates.
The futures market had a mixed response to the April WASDE report (see Table 3). Corn and soybeans prices closed lower on April 13th than the day before WASDE’s release. Cotton prices were higher and wheat was unchanged.
Table 3. 2026 Futures Prices
Producers need to watch cash and futures for marketing opportunities as planting season usually provides the highest prices of the year.
Mickey, Scott. “April WASDE Recap.” Southern Ag Today 6(16.3). April 15, 2026. Permalink
