CORN
- On Monday, corn traded higher throughout the day before ultimately settling lower on continued pressure from the bearish USDA report.
- The USDA said that the planting estimate for corn was 94.1 million acres which would increase ending stocks and has caused selling in corn futures.
- On Friday, crop progress was released showing the corn crop rated 51% good to excellent, up just one point from a week ago. Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana showed improvement from a week ago.
- Rains fell in the western Plains yesterday, and Kansas and Missouri are expecting heavy rain amounts over the next five days, and good rain in the Corn Belt as a whole.
SOYBEANS
- On the flip side of corn, soybeans ended higher on Friday with continued support from the USDA report with planting estimates at just 83.5 million acres.
- August soybean oil closed at a new high for the year on Monday as demand picks up. Yesterday, both canola and rapeseed traded higher.
- Despite the recent beneficial rains in the driest areas of the Corn Belt, crop progress showed soybeans falling by 1% in the good to excellent rating and is now at 50%, the lowest rating for this time of year since 2012.
- With soybean futures in the US surging, China has taken notice, and September beans on the Dalian exchange closed 2.9% higher yesterday to a four-month high.
WHEAT
- Wheat ended Monday lower after being pulled down by falling corn prices and poor export demand.
- Yesterday, September milling wheat closed up 0.8% and early today those prices were up another 1.6%, so it is possible that US futures open higher.
- On Monday, the USDA said that 37% of winter wheat was harvested which is down from a five year average of 46% for this time of year. Winter wheat good to excellent ratings were steady at 40%.
- Spring wheat good to excellent ratings slipped 2% to 48% good to excellent, and in North Dakota, ratings slipped from 49% to 40%.