August WASDE Switches to Field-Survey Yield Data, Raising Stakes for Corn Markets

The August 2026 WASDE is the first report this season to use objective field-survey yield data, replacing the trend-line estimates used May through July. That methodological shift has historically produced larger revisions than the May-to-July sequence. Reuters trade estimates put corn yield at 182.4 bu/acre, down 0.6 from USDA's July figure of 183.0.