Headlines:

  • GM corn plantings revive in Europe, thanks to pest pressure….
    The proportion of European Union corn grown from genetically modified seed this year reached a record level – if still a small one, as worries over an insect pest prompted Spanish farmers to hike plantings. European Union farmers this year sowed 136,337 hectares of genetically engineered corn, from the only variety – a 20-year old Monsanto product – that the bloc has approved for growing. That area was small compared with the 8.80m hectares that farmers seeded with corn overall. However, at 1.6%, it represented the biggest proportion since the Monsanto variety, so-called MON810, was approved in 1998. It also represented an increase of more than 19,000 hectares year on year, and the first rise since 2013, when the area of the EU planted with GM corn hit a record 148,658, data from US Department of Agriculture bureau in Europe showed.
  • CME grain futures will close early on Friday, December 23rd, at 1:05pm ET; markets will reopen on Monday night, December 26th at 8:00pm ET.

 

Summary:

Favorable weather in South America continued to levy some pressure on the Soybean futures market which in turn has been dragging Corn and Wheat along with it. We are only a five days away from Christmas but Corn and Beans could continue to drop as we make a run into the holiday break. The US Dollar was on the rise once again today putting additional pressure on dollar denominated commodities. US exports stands to be hurt the most from the increase in the greenback. The US Dollar reached a new 14 year high intraday.

Soybean was the biggest loser on the day posting another double digit loss at 15.75 cents. Both Corn and Wheat were modest in their losses. Corn dropped 3 cents and Wheat was only off 2 cents. Crude Oil futures rallied again today but the range covered over the last three day is smaller than that of the previous three trading days. The higher over the past two days are at appears to be some resistance so a move to support at about 50 by the end of the year would not come as a surprise.

dec20