U.S. corn farmers are receiving conflicting signals from the cash and futures markets on whether to sell or store their grain. On the one hand, firm cash basis levels seem to suggest that corn demand is in better health than the futures market may imply, and could be a sign that growers should lock down
Corn Market Sends Confusing Signals
Traders Struggle To Get A Handle On Stocks
Grain traders were moaning recently about how the latest grain stocks report surprised the corn market with higher-than-anticipated corn inventories. Some even suggested that perhaps the USDA misreported how much grain was stored privately by farmers. But as a proportion of total on-farm storage capacity, U.S. corn farmers actually stored the lowest amount of their
Agribusiness Giants Can’t Escape Market Volatility
You know commodity trading conditions are tough when even firms that sit on both the buy and sell sides of a market still suffer hefty losses. Such was the case with 140-year-old agribusiness giant Cargill, which recently reported a 66 per cent drop in earnings in the latest quarter over year-ago levels due to global
High Prices May Push Bacon Off Menus
The recent royal wedding celebrations at London’s Buckingham Palace featured bacon sandwiches on the menu for the morning after the night before. The fact that bacon featured so prominently alongside other delicacies in such revered surroundings is quite fitting given that bacon prices are closing in on all-time highs and look set to continue pressing
Don’t Overlook Feed Value Of DDGs
Ethanol producers often get much of the blame for driving the price of corn to its current multi-year high levels due to that industry’s strong usage of corn to make fuel. But critics overlook the growing production and distribution of Dried Distillers Grains (DDGs), a byproduct of ethanol output used in animal feeds as an
Sky-High Crop Acreage Targets Likely A Pipe Dream
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reiterated its projections for record-high combined plantings of corn, cotton and soybeans this spring at its annual Outlook Forum, dealing a fresh blow to crop prices by standing by its projections for potentially record-high crop production in 2011. But while record U.S. crop-planting estimates are all well and good on
Analysis: Wheat Class War To Erupt In 2011
The price of every class of wheat pushed strongly higher in 2010 as production problems beset nearly all the world’s major wheat growers to offer a uniformly supportive backdrop for the global wheat market. But with wheat prices now at multi-year highs around the world, end-users are starting to seek out substitutes for expensive feed
Global Acreage Tussle Looms For Top Crops
The U.S. Department of Agr icul ture provided fresh fuel to the already bullish grain and oilseed markets Nov. 9, and all but confirmed that an intense acreage battle among the world’s key food crops looms in 2011. Soybeans have been the chief momentum gainer in the immediate wake of the report after the USDA
Market’s Focus Has Shifted — And That’s Good For Prices – for Aug. 19, 2010
The USDA’s latest batch of numbers suggests that U. S. producers look set to churn out record amounts of corn and soybeans this fall – as well as the third-largest wheat crop since 2000. But overseas production hiccups matched with blossoming global demand should counteract the impact of mammoth fresh domestic supplies – and continue
Wheat Ownership War Brews Outside Chicago – for Jul. 29, 2010
Wheat is wheat for most people, and judging by the recent buying action in Chicago futures everyone wants to own it lately as worries emerge about the heat-stressed crops of Europe. However, for commercial users of wheat there is an important difference between the low-quality wheat traded in the Windy City and the protein-rich wheat