Friday May 14, 2010

Fact of the day: The 'Tully Monster' is the official state fossil. It was a marine mammal that lived 280-340 million years ago.

Hello bloggers! Today was a trying day for corn and beans. Nearby corn finished down -10 cents at $3.56. Soybeans were down -10 cents at $9.50. A stronger US dollar, great weather outlook, and weak crude oil was to blame for the fall in prices. As Scott pointed out earlier, it's ironic how China purchased 484,000 tonnes of corn from USA (the most in a decade) and the price of commodities still declined. Not only is China purchasing corn from the USA, but there is talk they will soon become the no. 1 importer of American DDG's. Other than Chinese news, there appears to be not much fresh news today.

New Orleans' corn bid is up this week at +50 cents and soybeans are bidding at +53 cents. The Illinois River appears to have crested which will allow for continued barge loading in Morris and Ottawa. As of right now, the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico has not been affecting barge movement in/out of the USA. This weeks rains will be followed by a weekend of 70 degree days. This weekend's weather will be a sight to sore eyes for the producers that have received more rain than desirable. Looks like Grundy County area will be seeing its next rainfall Monday, but will remain dry for the next week. The Morris Terminal has seen 2.70 inches of rain this month. Our average rainfall is 3.95 inches for May.

Some international news that I found interesting is the Japanese government is ordering '...the destruction of 73,653 pigs' to prevent the spread of foot-in-mouth outbreak. Though the outbreak currently has not made any noticeable changes meat demand/consumption, it is expected to slow if Japan's culling efforts fail.

Stay classy and have a great weekend,
Nathaniel Dubravec