Mark's Market Talk for August 26, 2024

Last week saw mixed results for corn and bean futures as corn was down 2 to 3 cents while beans closed 16 cents higher. The price of veg oil lead bean futures higher as demand came back to the market. Corn was slightly lower as the corn crop heads to maturity with non-threatening weather conditions. Late summer rains and moderate temperatures have helped the late planted crops to improve Meanwhile timely planted crops continue to shine with prospects of a great harvest. The annual Pro Farmer tour was held last week. Their numbers were surprising for both crops. They predict a national corn yield of 181.1 bushels which is 2 bushels less than the USDA predicted on their August report. The bigger surprise came on the beans where they predict a national average of 57.9 bushels which is 1.7 bushels higher than the USDA. These numbers were released after the markets closed last Friday. They will be discussed completely this week as the trade prepares for harvest numbers. If they are correct on the bean yield, we could be facing a carryout of more than 600,000 bushels which could push cash beans below 9.00 at harvest. The world is loaded with bean supplies currently. Looking back at the past 3 years the old saying “the cure for high prices is high prices” comes to mind. Some of the problems have been the slow response our government is giving to green diesel. China is flooding our country with used cooking oil that is being awarded tax credits while our own soy oil is being ignored. There are new soy plants coming online that will need beans to operate. Hopefully our government officials will realize they need to support US farmers, not the Chinese government.