View from the Cab: Watching markets

By: Kent Casson

As we all bring in the 2021 corn and soybean crops, one market analyst hopes we also pay close attention to what is happening in the world.

We have seen some soybean sales to China then some cancellation of those sales. This is one of the many factors markets are closely watching this fall season. As of mid-September, we were looking at a record amount of corn sales on the books for 2021.

“Bean sales are well below where they were last year,” said Brian Basting of Advance Trading during a recent Central Illinois Farm Network midday update.

This is because of a large Brazilian crop and larger Brazilian stocks. Basting feels the markets will continue watching the harvest results coming in along with export sales. There are always a few wild cards out there which everyone will keep an eye on.

As producers here in Central Illinois step into the combine cab for another harvest, Basting reminds them of corn planting underway in Argentina and soybean planting in Brazil.

“With the price levels we are at right now, they are highly motivated,” Basting said of South American growers.

USDA told us this month that South America would increase acreage. Buenos Aires predicts a record corn crop for 2022 which will be harvest next spring. USDA also projects a record soybean crop in Brazil.

The high prices as of late are great as farmers pull across the scales but maybe not quite as great as last spring and summer. Basting notes these prices are well above normal price levels for this time of year.

“High prices do have a tendency to cure high prices.”

Basting hopes farmers take advantage of the pricing opportunities we have today – not only for 2021 but also for 2022 as well. We really won’t have a price floor in place until February when crop insurance prices are set.

We always appreciate the market information from our various contributors on the Central Illinois Farm Network, such as Brian Basting from Advance Trading. You can catch our midday market segment on the CIFN website each weekday over the noon hour.

It was a busy harvest week for my family last week as our corn harvest progresses nicely. No soybeans have been cut as of this writing but look for that to change in the coming days and weeks as the beans are maturing fast around here.