Grains are higher at midday:

July Corn + 12 3/4 cents/bu (7.86 3/4)

Aug Soybeans + 14 1/2 cents/bu (16.28 1/4)

Sept Chi Wheat + 28 1/4 cents/bu (10.91 3/4)

Cdn $ +0.00090 (77.35 cents)

WTI Crude Oil +0.49 /barrel (115.80)

Export sales for the week were nothing to get excited about. Everything was within expectations, with corn and wheat are the low end.

Soybeans have some support today as China announced a 0.4% increase in month-to-month sow numbers. Chinese pigs are the world’s largest consumers to soybeans, so an increase in their herd is highly positive for the global soybean demand.

Rain is expected to be sparse in the Midwest over the next few weeks. That being said, temperatures are expected to subside over the weekend making the lack of rain less burdensome (for now). It is too early to make any long-term predictions on the crop’s potential as the weather forecasts continue to change. If there is one thing that is certain- it is that weather is uncertain. If the hot-dry weather does stay for a prolonged period of time, it can have adverse effects on the pollination of corn which directly correlates to yield decreases. This potential is enough to add some weather premium in grain prices.

HIS Markit aka. Informa released their acerage estimates today and they pegged corn up 455,000 acres to 90.965 million acres, while they moved soybeans down 280,000 acres to 88.735 million.