# Corn Holds Energy Lead; No Feedstuff Prices Below Benchmark _Oct 27, 2026_ > No new USDA feedstuffs quotes arrived this week. Sunflower meal leads protein at 71% of soybean meal. No tracked feedstuff undercuts corn on energy. The board holds unchanged into late harvest. _Numbers as of Oct 27, 2026 pull._ No new USDA feedstuffs quotes have been published since the previous issue, leaving the board unchanged. On the energy side, no tracked feedstuff prices below corn's cost per pound of TDN this week, with rice bran the nearest alternative at **$0.110 per pound of TDN, 109% of corn** ($156/ton plant input cost, dry-matter basis). On the protein side, sunflower meal remains the cheapest source at **$0.275 per pound of crude protein, 71% of soybean meal** (FOB, $369/ton, book coefficients). [Chart: The anchors and DDGS ($/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/issues/feed/2026-10-27/leaderboard/cheapest-energy.png) - **Protein board:** Feather meal holds second at $0.309/lb CP (80% of soybean meal). DDGS follows at $0.355/lb CP (92% of soybean meal). All three remain below soybean meal on cost per pound of crude protein. - **Energy board:** Wheat middlings sit just behind rice bran at $0.113/lb TDN (112% of corn). No tracked feedstuff prices below the corn benchmark on a cost-per-pound-of-TDN basis this week. - **DDGS:** At ~$188/ton, DDGS prices energy at 118% of corn's cost per pound of TDN and protein at 92% of soybean meal's cost per pound of crude protein. - **Corn supply:** USDA ERS's Oct 15 Feed Outlook raised the 2026/27 U.S. feed grains supply estimate 10.1 million MT to 476.4 million MT, the second-largest on record, driven by a 10.3-million-MT increase in corn supply. Corn's current benchmark stands at ~$156/ton (plant input cost). - **Oilseeds:** USDA ERS's Oct 15 Oil Crops Outlook raised 2026/27 U.S. soybean production to 4.56 billion bushels on higher yields, with soybean meal FOB at ~$369/ton. The same report's first 2026/27 sunflowerseed production forecast stands at 2.3 billion pounds, 31 million pounds below 2025/26. **Data note:** Kansas delivered sun-cured alfalfa pellets (15% protein), Portland delivered sun-cured alfalfa pellets (15% protein) and California Sacramento, San Joaquin and South FOB almond hull series have not reported in over two weeks. Treat quotes from those specific series as stale. --- Canonical URL: https://the-ration.com/issues/2026-10-27