Headlines:

  • Wheat prices soar as US sowings hit record low. Soy up too
    Soybean futures gained, and spring wheat futures took gains this month nearly to 40% after much-anticipated US crop data showed that farmers sowed fewer acres of both crops this spring than investors had thought. Chicago-traded soybean futures for August soared 2.8% at one point to $9.46 ¾ a bushel, touching their 50-day moving average, which they have not closed above in nearly four months. Spring wheat futures, as traded in Minneapolis, touched $7.92 ¾ a bushel for September delivery, a gain of 7.2% on the day, and extending gains for June to 38%. Chicago winter wheat for September jumped 6.0% to a one-year high fop $5.26 a bushel. The rally followed the release by the US Department of Agriculture, in one of its most important reports of the year, of data showing that US growers did not after all switch land from corn to soybeans this spring, despite rains which hampered fieldwork.
  • EU wheat crop suffers second downgrade in two days

 

Summary:

Farmers in the US planted more Corn than expected and less Soybeans. Albeit, Soybean acres still reached a record-high, according to the data released today in the USDA Report. The reports today showed that the USDA increased the US Corn plantings above trade expectations and lowered Soybean acres to levels in line with trade expectations. The USDA estimated the 2017 US Soybean planting acreage at 88.7 million versus USDA estimate last quarter at 89.5 million and last year’s acreage of 83.4 million. The USDA raised the US Corn plantings to 90.0 million versus last quarter’s estimate of 89.9 million and 94.0 million from last year this time. The US All-Wheat plantings came in at 45.7 million, which was a record low. Clearly Managed Money saw the writing on the wall given the strength in Wheat leading into the report. The March estimate was at 46.1 million and a year ago this time the estimate was at 50.1 million. The Spring Wheat acres fell 0.5 million to 10.8 million versus the estimate last quarter. US Corn stocks came in at 5.23 billion bushels. Soybeans stocks were pegged 960 million bushels and Wheat stocks were estimated at 1.18 billion bushels. Everything rallied today. September Corn was up 10 ½ cents, September Beans was up 24 ¾ cents and September Chicago Wheat rose 29 ¾ cents. Expectations are that once the dust settles from the volatility today that the trade return to focusing crop weather and the heat that has been hampering the western Corn Belt.