Weekly grain report

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

7/5/12: The grain markets continued their streak on Thursday as the hot weather continues. Next week is supposed to bring some relief from the heat in the corn belt, but rain is still lacking. New-crop corn traded out to a new contract high and Chicago September corn futures touched limit-up late in the day. Chicago wheat futures gained 38 cents, and white wheat gained 35. Export sales will be out in the morning.

7/6/12: Grain prices finally broke on Friday as a cooler corn belt forecast starting Sunday allowed some profit-taking to take place. There still isn’t much in the forecast as far as rain, and the heat is supposed to return 11 days out, so the rally may not yet be over. However, something could always pop up in Europe, or rain could suddenly materialize, so expect the volatile trade to continue for the foreseeable future. The USDA releases another monthly supply and demand report next week, where they should adjust corn yield lower – how much is the question. Ultimately they may keep the yield inflated by scratching acres lost to the drought. However, we can’t afford to lose those either. Expect a cut to projected demand for corn as well.

7/10/12: There was a bit of profit taking on Tuesday before the USDA releases their latest supply-and-demand report on Wednesday morning. The number most people will be focused on is the projected national corn yield, but with the weather remaining dry in major corn-growing areas. it may be quickly discounted with the focus soon returning to forecasts.