After two days of strong gains in corn and beans we are seeing a slight pullback in the markets so far this morning, as corn is down a penny, and beans are 4 ½ cents lower going into today’s session. Following this past Monday’s crop progress report corn has put on 10 cents in the nearby futures, and beans have added a quarter for nearby months.
Weekly export sales were released this morning, and should provide some support to grains today, as corn sales figures were strong for both old and new crop, and soybeans sales were within the expected range for old crop, while new crop numbers were higher than expected.
Weather continues to be the main topic of the trade. The Midwest is expected to see rain showers throughout the next week, but then forecasts are calling for a warmer/drier outlook to close out the month of June. It is worth noting that the southeastern United States (Georgia/North/South Carolina) is experiencing high temperatures (100+ degree heat forecasted for the next 10+ days), and corn crops in the region are attempting to pollinate. Although total corn production in the area doesn’t rival any of the corn belt state (roughly 1.5 million acres of corn planted in those 3 states), this heat stress will undoubtedly take a toll on crop conditions.
The US $ is on the decline again, as the Fed released its monthly comments yesterday, suggesting that an interest rate hike is further down the road than previously expected.