Wednesday April 14, 2010

Fact: It was on this day in 1865 that US President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Booth.

Good afternoon! My, my today was a thriller. Only after corn and beans took a roller coaster ride did both commodities finish up on the day. Corn closed at $3.58 +5 cents on the day. Beans closed at $9.69 +1 cent on the day. Corn futures were up +5 cents across the board. September beans (SU0) were up +4 cents @ $9.54.

We had a nice little rally today with corn. Corn was +10 cents at one point today, but still closed +5 cents. Beans were down early today and were able to fight back into positive ground. It's hard to say why commodity prices are strengthening while planting is going on. A weak dollar and slow South American farmer selling may be contributing. Regardless, the price of corn and beans has been going in the right direction.

Illinois River corn basis is currently at -.03 nearby. Nearby bean river basis is -.17. The basis is firming and hopefully futures will continue to strengthen as well. New Orleans is currently bidding +44 cents for nearby corn and +38 for beans.

Today we saw a high of 82 degrees in Morris and will tomorrow as well. Birds, bees, flowers, and the trees are all doing their thing with this weather. After tomorrow it's expected to cool, but stay sunny for quite some time. Producers that have been able to finish field work are now going 'full bore' and getting some serious planting done.

We hope everyone has a safe spring and planting season.

Stay classy Illinois,
Nathaniel Dubravec