# USDA Raises Feed Grain Supply; Board Holds Without New Quotes _Oct 15, 2026_ > No new USDA AMS feedstuffs prices since last week. Sunflower meal holds the protein lead at 68% of soybean meal. USDA ERS raised 2026/27 feed grain supply 10.1 million metric tons to 476.4 million, the second-largest on record. _Numbers as of Oct 15, 2026 pull._ Sunflower meal is the cheapest protein on the board at **$0.275 per pound of crude protein on a dry-matter basis, 68% of soybean meal's cost per pound of crude protein**, per USDA AMS. No new feedstuffs prices have been published since last week's issue, leaving the leaderboard at its prior reading. USDA's Economic Research Service raised 2026/27 U.S. feed grain supply by 10.1 million metric tons to 476.4 million, the second-largest on record and 3% below the 2025/26 record, led by a 10.3-million-MT increase in corn supply on higher beginning stocks and production, per USDA ERS's Oct 15 Feed Outlook. [Chart: The anchors and DDGS ($/ton, as-fed)](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-energy) ([data](https://the-ration.com/leaderboard/cheapest-energy.md) — chart image: https://the-ration.com/charts/leaderboard/cheapest-energy/chart.png) - **Protein board:** Feather meal is the second cheapest protein source at $0.301/lb crude protein (74% of soybean meal) and linseed meal third at $0.365/lb (90%), dry-matter basis per USDA AMS. Nutrient coefficients are book values from published feed tables. - **Energy board:** Corn holds the benchmark at **$0.109/lb TDN** (plant input cost, dry-matter basis). Rice bran is at $0.110/lb TDN (101% of corn) and wheat millrun at $0.115/lb TDN (105%) per USDA AMS, dry-matter basis. - **DDGS:** At about $195/ton per USDA AMS, DDGS delivers protein at 91% of soybean meal's cost per pound of crude protein and energy at 113% of corn's cost per pound of TDN, dry-matter basis. - **Soybean meal benchmark:** About $385/ton FOB per USDA AMS, unchanged this issue. USDA NASS raised the 2026/27 soybean production forecast 27 million bushels to 4.56 billion on higher yield, with the soybean crush forecast unchanged at 2.78 billion bushels, per USDA ERS's Oct 15 Oil Crops Outlook. - **Sunflowerseed supply:** USDA's first 2026/27 sunflowerseed production forecast stands at 2.3 billion pounds, 31 million pounds below 2025/26, per USDA ERS's Oct 15 Oil Crops Outlook. No updated sunflower meal price has been published this issue. Data note: 48 specific USDA AMS series are stale (no update in over two weeks), including alfalfa pellets (Kansas and Portland, delivered, sun-cured, 15% protein) and almond hulls (California Sacramento, San Joaquin and South, FOB). The stale flag applies to those exact series only. --- Canonical URL: https://the-ration.com/issues/2026-10-15