Improving crop conditions pressured grain prices in Tuesday’s trade. Here’s a look at how things shook out at today’s close.
Grain markets were uniformly lower in today’s trade with corn, soybeans, and wheat experiencing significant weakness. At the close December corn futures were 12 ¼ cents lower, settling at 475 1/4, that’s the lowest close since September of 2021. November soybeans tested the 200-day moving average and Friday’s high but ultimately failed, finishing the day 20 ¾ cents lower to settle at 1305 ¼. December Chicago wheat futures were 17 ¾ cents lower today, settling at 623 ¾.
Some of today’s weakness may have been on the back of improving crop conditions which were reported by the USDA yesterday afternoon. US corn conditions came in at 59% good/excellent, that was a 2% improvement from last week. Good/excellent conditions for soybeans jumped a whopping 5% to 59% good/excellent, which is 1% better than this time last year. The most notable improvement came from Illinois which saw a 12% improvement week over week, now standing at 70% good/excellent.Â
The updated 6-10 day and 8-14 day weather outlooks both show above normal temperatures coupled with below normal precipitation for the majority of the Midwest. The corn crop is all but made, but this will be important to keep an eye on for soybeans. Areas that have gotten good rains recently may see this help crop conditions while areas that have missed rains could see this negatively impact yield potential.