Mark's Market Talk for December 16, 2024

Last Tuesday the USDA released their December stocks report. The corn side was positive as they increased exports by 150 million bushels and bumped the corn used for ethanol SO million. This lowered the carryout by 200 million down to 1.738 billion bushels. This was a move in the right direction, but it was not enough to make the trade overly excited. For the week corn was 2 cents higher. The report left the bean numbers alone and as normal a neutral report caused the market to trend lower. Beans were down 5 cents for the week. It looks like beans will have a tough time gaining ground as the weather in South America continues to be non- threatening. The export window will start closing in a couple of months as SA starts their harvest. Sometimes when the talk is all gloom and doom, we find a silver lining. That is not currently happening in the bean market. The tariff talk has quieted some, but it is still a factor. The lack of a tax credit program for clean aviation fuel is creating lots of problems for the new bean plants that are starting to come online and were expecting great demand for this fuel. Right now, it appears our government is willing to allow Brazil to dominate this renewable market. We can't even get the renewable fuel tax credits extended in a timely manner which is causing heartburn for the ethanol plants. Big oil has too much influence on our government officials, and we keep importing oil instead of using our own along with biofuels to make the US energy sustainable within our own borders. Hopefully our people in DC will see the light and put American farmers in the first position and let the world fend for itself.