Wednesday March 10, 2010

Did you know: This coming Monday (March 15) marks the 'Ides of March'. In 44 BC Julius Caesar was killed on this day. "Et tu Brute?" comes from Shakespeare's play.

Today corn and wheat closed on mixed losses. Corn was down -3 cents at $3.65. Wheat was down -7.5 cents at $4.70. Prices for soybeans were constructive as soybeans found themselves on the better side of the market. Nearby soybeans finished up +10 cents at $9.58. Big news on the day was the USDA monthly crop report.

Corn prices retreated after the USDA monthly crop report showed a plethora of grain. This wasn't the first time the report threw us for a loop. It feels like the past few reports were expected to show corn supply to drop. Instead of supply dropping slightly as anticipated, corn supply rose. Wheat prices also dropped because of larger supplies. Corn harvested area declined 10,000 acres in Michigan, but was unchanged in Illinois and much of the Midwest. The Dakotas are still having one hell of a time getting at their corn due to the epic amount of snow received. The Dakotas were not surveyed for this report, but will be at a later date once farmers can actually get to it! Yields in Illinois decreased 1 bpa. US is at 13.1 bbu which is down from the previous estimate.

Corn basis is modestly weaker from a week ago.

Today was a good day for soybeans. Soybeans were up on the day. Great to see! CIF is offering +60 over the SK0. The USDA report showed a decline in harvested bean acres in Georgia and the Carolinas only. China bought 110 tons of soybeans for delivery. The Agriculture Ministry raised Brazil's 09-10 soybean crop 18% greater than what was harvested last year. A quick change of topic-1 year extension of the $1/gallon biodiesel tax will be attached to the job bill. It will be voted on later this week in the US Senate.

Some interesting wheat news is Brazil's unhappiness with US subsidies for the cotton industry. It seems that our Latino friends are threatening higher tariffs on a variety of goods if their demands are not met in regards to the cotton industry. We will keep an eye on this to see what happens. Wheat was feelin' the heat from Egypt today. The world's top wheat importer bought 120,000 tonnes of Russian and French wheat...bypassing Uncle Sam's supplies.

The Morris Terminal has been busy as always. We've been busy filling bean barges as of late with plans to work on a few corn barges in the near future. With a warm temperatures, flocks of common golden-eyes overhead, and high spirits present...the Morris Terminal is definitely the place to be. Nearby Morris corn is -.17 FH March. Nearby Morris soybeans are even SK0. If you are able to hold onto corn for 2 more months you can pick up 6 cents.

Today's weather was a high of the year for much of the Midwest. The Morris Terminal saw temperatures soar to 61 degrees today. For much of Northern Illinois, we will see warmer temperatures and rains into Sunday afternoon.

Stay classy Illinois,
Nathaniel Dubravec