The figure was above market expectations between 1.953 billion and 2.099 billion bushels, which would be bearish for CBOT corn futures, sources said.
Of those corn stocks, 29% were stored on farms and 71% at off-farm facilities, such as mills, elevators, warehouses, terminals, and processors, the data showed.
"Of the total stocks, 620 million bushels are stored on farms, down 21% from a year earlier," the USDA said. "Off-farm stocks, at 1.52 billion bushels, are up 1% from a year ago."
"The June-August 2018 indicated disappearance is 3.16 billion bushels, compared with 2.94 billion bushels during the same period last year," the USDA added.
Corn is the primary feedstock for ethanol production in the US and is the main competitor for dried distillers grains.
