Grains are mixed at midday:
Sept Corn + ¼ cents/bu (5.56 ¼)
Dec Corn + ¼ cents/bu (5.52 ¼)
Nov Soybeans -8 ¼ cents/bu (13.83 1/2)
Sept Chi Wheat + 7 1/4 cents/bu (6.99 3/4)
Cdn $ - 0.00965 (78.355 cents)
WTI Crude Oil -4.78/barrel (66.78) ßBig drop due to OPEC
We are accepting Soft White Winter Wheat deliveries at the Wanstead location today (along with Soft Red Winter Wheat and Hard Red Winter Wheat as well). Today, at the close of business, our 17.0 Winter Wheat drying program will end. We were accepting delivery of tough wheat, with no drying charges taken off up to 17.0% (shrinkage still to apply) in an attempt to preserve wheat quality. The Co-op secured a lot of good quality wheat as a result. Thanks to all growers that ended up harvesting a little earlier that they might have otherwise done. Wheat must be delivered today to be considered for the program.
Grains are mixed at midday, as a hot, dry forecast this week for much of the US Midwest has raised concerns over overall production, as the US corn crop enters it’s critical pollination phase and soybeans continue to develop. We were much higher shortly after the open in the overnights, but currently sit well off of the highs seen initially. Heat is most concentrated in northern and western portions of the Corn Belt – areas that already have the most dire production potential. Western Canada and the Canadian Prairies is also extremely dry, with 3/4ths of the area experiencing drought. There is a lot of wheat and canola out there burning up.
The Weekly export inspections report was released today and it showed the following in million bushels. Results were essentially in line with expectations.
| | Actual | Estimates | Last Week | 10-Week Average |
| Corn | 39.4 | 31.5-51.2 | 39.5 | 61.6 |
| Soybeans | 5.3 | 3.7-11 | 7.4 | 7.6 |
| Wheat | 18.0 | 10.1-20.2 | 15.7 | 17.7 |
Basis levels will be firmer today, as the Canadian dollar has traded as much as 1.25 cents lower today against the US dollar. US treasuries are much higher, but it would appear to be weakness in crude oil, the stock market, and metals that is having the biggest negative impact on the Loonie. OPEC appears to have settled any internal strife and is looking to have big oil production increases starting in August.
We will see the USDA Crop Condition Report released after the close today, with the trade expecting to see modest improvements to overall corn ratings and a slight decrease in overall soybean ratings.