Interesting week for markets

BLOOMINGTON – An interesting week for the markets has come to a close. Numbers were higher on Tuesday and traded lower the past few days as South American production came into play.

“Brazil’s harvest looks like it’s going to be a record bean crop and it may end up being a record corn crop before it’s all said and done,” Aaron Curtis of MIDCO told The Central Illinois Farm Network on Friday afternoon.

The friendly news came early in the week when there was talk about changing the Renewable Fuel Standard. That led to more discussions about possibly changing the ethanol blend to 15 percent year round. There was also talk about the biodiesel credit which perked up soybean oil and spilled over into soybeans.

Markets were quieter to end the week with not as much news to focus on. The White House denied they were going to change any of the ethanol rules although there may be “back room” discussions taking place, according to Curtis.

This past week saw about a 10 cent gain on corn futures and around 13 cents for May soybeans. Another Supply and Demand report is due out Thursday, although not many changes are expected in the balance sheets. The March crop report is traditionally quiet but we could see some updates to South American production.

Curtis will participate in the Central Illinois Farm Network’s 2017 Market Outlook Meeting Tuesday, March 28 at Gig’s Place in downtown Fairbury. The event starts at 6 p.m. with a free pizza buffet dinner followed by the meeting, which will also feature Merrill Crowley of Crowley Commodities and Wayne Nelson of L&M Commodities. Reserve your spot by calling: 217-530-3107.