Weather is still the key driver in the marketplace and will continue to be as we move into August, the critical month for the soybean crop. Warm nighttime temperatures are now starting to be a concern and the lack of cool nights could take the top end off of the corn yields in the Western Corn Belt.
Dryness concerns seem to only be limited to approximately 25% of the Eastern Corn Belt, even so, this dryness is not enough for the market to worry about with a majority of the Midwest in great shape. A lack of a real weather story and near record good to excellent national crop progress ratings for this time in the growing season continues to keep values on the defensive. August also brings a slew of private firms releasing their crop survey reports. FC Stone will put out their initial report on Monday Aug 1 and the USDA will follow up with their forecasts on Aug 12. The trade is anticipating 170 or greater corn yields versus the most current USDA figure of 168. Corn and soybean ratings are expected to remain unchanged on Monday night’s quality condition report at 76% and 71% good to excellent ratings respectively
