Larger soybean, smaller corn harvest expected; still records

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has boosted the expected soybean crop to a new record.

The agency's monthly crop update, released Monday, says farmers are expected to produce 4.2 billion bushels of soybeans, an increase of 3 percent from last month's estimate. It's also a record for average bushels per acre at 50.6 and acres harvested at 83 million.

The estimated corn crop was reduced to 15.1 billion bushels as compared to last month's estimate of 15.2 billion. But that still beats the previous high of 14.2 billion bushels in 2014.

The huge harvest is still expected to suppress grain prices below farmers' cost of production, causing most to lose money on corn and soybeans.