Grains are higher at midday:
Dec Corn + 4 ¼ cents/bu (5.16 ½ )
Nov Soybeans + 11 ½ cents/bu (12.06 ¾ )
Dec Chi Wheat + 7 ¼ cents/bu (7.26)
Cdn $ +0.00405 (80.82 cents)
WTI Crude Oil +0.49/barrel (80.93)
Grains currently sit near their highs for the trading session, although corn and soybeans have traded in negative territory earlier in the day session. Thursday is definitely turning into a “risk on” day, as outside commodities and equity markets are on fire. Dow futures are currently up 485 points @ 34,742.
We saw technical weakness in grains yesterday, which was fuelled by algorithmic computer sellers, once some technical moving day averages were violated to the downside. Today, fundamentals are coming into play, with wheat having a nice bounce higher as Minneapolis spring wheat futures react to the smaller USA crop and to the fact that the USDA did reduce the size of the Canadian spring wheat crop by 2 million tonnes on Tuesday. Soft wheat futures (Chicago) are getting supported by the fact that wet weather in the eastern Corn Belt is reducing the pace of soybean harvest, and with those delays, putting planting of soft wheat in jeopardy, as insurance deadlines for planting wheat are rapidly approaching.
Today, suddenly, the price of fertilizer is garnering market attention again, as prices continue to escalate. The market is paying attention, with fears that the high price of nitrogen, phosphate, and potash could curb both acres and production levels of North American crops next year.
In it’s weekly report on petroleum stocks, the Energy Information Administration confirmed that ethanol production last week reached a 13 month high @ 1,032,000 barrels per day, as new crop corn becomes available. At the same time, ethanol stocks fell to a 19 week low @ 19.8 million barrels.
Locally, producers are being reminded to haul in their empty pesticide containers and seed bags at their earliest convenience. October 31st is the deadline for Clean Farms to pick up and dispose of these items from their designated pick up locations.