Down week for corn, soybeans

It was a down week for corn and soybeans. As of Friday morning, corn was down 3-4 cents with soybeans down eight.

We are expecting a decent planting window next week so the markets don’t appear to be as concerned that farmers aren’t going to get into the field.

“We were three percent planted as of last week versus five percent on the five-year average so we are not that far behind,” said Jessica Murphy from Advance Trading on this week’s edition of “CIFN Friday Live” on Facebook.

Murphy notes that we typically see around a 22 percent increase in corn planting around this time and we all know U.S. producers can plant a lot of corn in a very short amount of time. Murphy feels there needs to be a supply issue before prices rebound as we are entering a weather market.

“We’ve already seen a reduction in acres and that hasn’t gotten the market excited as of yet. Remember, all of these numbers are going to change depending on what happens with weather.”

China came in and imposed milo tariffs this week which mostly impacts producers out west. A dozen vessels heading to China had to turn around and head back, which means the milo needs to be absorbed domestically.

Despite all of the trade talk, soybean demand remains high. Even if China goes entirely to South America as their main soybean source, there would not be enough to meet world demand.

“What I think we do need to worry about is long-term, if China does hold true to these soybean tariffs, are they going to start investing in South American agriculture, land, food companies and infrastructure?” Murphy wonders.

Murphy can be reached at: 217-433-9329, 309-664-2352 or by e-mail at: jmurphy@advance-trading.com.