DES MOINES, Iowa — On Monday, the CME Group’s corn and wheat markets closed higher. At the close, the May corn futures closed 7½¢ higher at $3.67, while December futures finished 6½¢ higher at $3.91. May soybean futures finished ¼¢ lower at $9.41¾. November soybean futures ended ¼¢ higher at $9.49¾. May soy meal futures closed $1.70 per short ton higher at $309.10. May soy oil futures closed 0.27¢ lower at 31.35¢ per pound.
In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.75 per barrel higher, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 14 points higher. Jack Scoville, The PRICE Futures Group’s senior market analyst, says that most specs and a lot of hedgers are sitting on their hands until tomorrow. “It’s wet in corn country. We might be 5% planted so far, all of it near the Gulf Coast or far Southeast. Nothing much happening farther north, and it looks like a generally wet week. So, there will be some more delays. It is a little early to get excited, but the market is very short right now, and we are getting some position even before the reports tomorrow and the rains,” Scoville says.
He adds, “Wheat and soybeans not too exciting. Both were higher overnight but are having trouble holding it today. I expect quiet markets today, more excitement tomorrow, then basically dying for the Easter week. ”Private exporters reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture export sales of 101,600 metric tons of corn for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2016/2017 marketing year. Corn planting appears to be precisely on pace with the five-year average overall according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. With three percent of total corn acres planted by April 9, progress paralleled the five-year average for this point and sat only one percentage point behind planting progress recorded at this point in 2016. Progress surpassed the five-year average in Texas by nine percentage points. Tennessee saw the greatest lags in progress with acres planted a full nine percentage points lower than the five-year average.
agriculture.com