Prices rebound nicely Thursday

Corn and soybean prices jumped back nicely on Thursday after the record selloff from the highs.

“I think maybe we flushed out all of the bearishness here for the moment and overnight, we did see confirmation of China buying some corn,” Trent Sauder of Advance Trading told The Central Illinois Farm Network.

This is the picture of a dramatic market we are experiencing. From January 1 until the May report, nearby futures had record moves.

“The previous biggest rally was in 2008 which was a 38-percent move so it was just a dramatic market move,” said Sauder. “In some ways, it was healthy to see the setback and now kind of sort out where we need to be.”

Sauder wonders if we have enough corn to get through the summer. China stepping back in to purchase reiterates the strength in their demand plus the ethanol market has been really firm. As we start driving more, ethanol demand is strong and ethanol margins are good despite the high corn prices.

Many will be watching the Dakotas over the next few days to see if rain comes through that area. This will be critical as they have been experiencing record drought.

“They definitely planted fencerow to fencerow up there but need this rain,” notes Sauder.

June 10 is the next USDA report when we will see what the government does with the Brazil crop. Sauder expects plenty of “chopping around” of the markets during June until the big report is due out at the end of the month. The range in acreage is dramatic and this could change things.

“If we add seven million acres to the March number, it’s a real game changer for potential supplies to new crop.”

Most of the Corn Belt has seen a decent weather start to the growing season even though crop development was a bit late due to unusually cold weather.