September Minneapolis wheat closed up 19 1/2 cents Wednesday, above $8.00 again with ongoing support from drought in the northwestern U.S. Plains and little chance for rain. Meanwhile, December corn and November soybeans were held to lower closes with widespread rains on their way to the Midwest. The market is closely watching where the rains setup starting Thursday in the central and eastern Corn Belt. Any shift slightly north or south for the low could widely change the direction of our markets moving into the weekend.
The July-December calendar spread in corn has rallied to a $1.31 inverse on tight supplies — moving up 55 cents in the past three weeks. The Energy Information Administration reported that ethanol production rose 23,000 barrels to 1.048 million barrels per day, while inventory, which was expected to fall, rose by 2.5% to 21.1 million barrels. USDA reported another sale of soybeans for the 2021-22 calendar year to China of 330,000 mt (12.1 million bushels).
Livestock markets have all moved lower, with July hogs gapping lower and trading below the 100-day moving average for the first time since November. Live cattle futures are lower with cash prices at $124 in the South and $204 in the North. Feeder cattle are under a bit of pressure despite most corn futures being lower.
Farm and Ranch Director Jesse Allen has our closing market report:
And, more analysis with Jesse Allen and Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics on today’s episode of Market Talk below:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7kEh80CJ3QnYkM7w8sNONA?si=xtdIJHWqTGquJbQrlUM4Ig&dl_branch=1
