Weekly grain report

Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse.

6/20/12: Not much changed for the grain markets, and the rally continued. Export sales will be out in the morning. Japan is in for 1.4 million bushels of western white.

6/22/12: Grain prices were strong out of the gate but moderated later in the day, as some forecasts put more moisture in the picture 6 to 15 days out for the corn belt. Changes to the forecasts and economic conditions in Europe over the weekend will determine our direction on Monday. A week from today the USDA will be out with their acreage numbers and quarterly stocks in what surely will be a very wild day for the grain markets.

6/25/12: Holy weather market Batman! The hot and dry weather continues in the eastern corn belt, and corn futures in Chicago finished the day up their 40-cent limit. The limit expands to 60 cents tomorrow. That was even before the crop conditions report came out this afternoon which showed a 7% drop in the good to excellent categories, which was larger than traders were expecting. This week looks like continued hot and dry back there, so look for the crop figures to deteriorate further into next week. The comparisons to the drought of 1988 are becoming more frequent. Wheat was dragged higher as a result, with Chicago September futures gaining 53 cents on the day and white wheat gaining 35 cents versus Friday.

6/26/12: Corn futures didn’t require the use of expanded limits today but did finish with solid 30-cent gains; Chicago wheat gained 7 cents. The limit in corn futures reverts back to the normal 40 cents tomorrow. Forecasts remain hot and dry, but corn is also up $1.18 per bushel since the 15th, so the question becomes, how much is enough for the time being? We’ve got major USDA reports on Friday so look for some profit taking ahead of that.