Corn: Since Monday’s market open, May corn futures have declined by $0.05 while September futures have only decreased by $0.02. Corn futures hit a seven month high earlier this week before they began to decline. Corn exports have been excellent due to a lack of competition from South America. Last week’s export sales of 103 million bushels set a marketing year high for the 2017/2018 marketing year. Hopefully, farmers were proactive in marketing their crop and captured some profitable sales while corn futures were at these recent highs. Locally, new crop corn basis averaged -$0.12.
Soybeans: Soybeans have experienced a very volatile week. May soybean futures declined $0.17 on Wednesday, but have recaptured a large part of their decline. For the week, May soybean futures actually increased $0.11 while November soybean futures increased $0.12 over the course of the week. The largest factor for the increase is dry weather in Argentina. The Rosario Grain Exchange in Argentina reduced the country’s soybean production by 14%. Locally, new crop soybean basis averaged -$0.16.
Wheat: Wheat futures for the month of July dropped by $0.19 since Monday. The decline was caused by more favorable weather forecasts for the key wheat producing states. Russia continues to report very strong export sales, which is keeping downward pressure on U.S. wheat futures. Producers that have not priced any of their wheat may have well missed a very good opportunity to market their wheat crop above $5.00. This is a good example of the importance of monitoring the markets. Locally, new crop wheat basis averaged -$0.06.
Cotton: December cotton futures closed at 78.28. New crop cotton equities continue to trade between $0.19 and $0.205, assuming a cotton loan price of $0.52.
Take Home Message: Producers can still lock in a profit on soybeans. However, wheat futures have declined quite a bit and continue to be volatile. Corn futures are near the $4.00 level and should be closely watched for producers with no sales on the books. Producers should continue to evaluate their cost of production and historical yields when making grain sales. If you need any assistance with this, feel free to contact me directly at danhmorr@utk.edu to learn more about the Farm Manage Program.
West Tennessee Grain Bids 3-8-2018
