Mark's Market Talk for December 24, 2024

Last week we saw a higher corn market and a lower bean price. Both commodities bounced up and down all week. Corn ended the week 4 cents higher as Thursday and Friday helped cover up Wednesday’s down day. We saw some more export business and the support under corn seems to be solid. The January reports will include a yield adjustment and most feel it will be higher as the numbers at the end of harvest held together. Beans had a rough week as they fell 25 cents on Wednesday alone. We did get most of that back on Thursday and Friday, but they still ended the week down 14 cents. The weather in South America continues to be crop friendly and Brazil is posting offers well below us starting in March. That puts a definite window closing for our export market. Domestic demand remains good, but it isn’t enough to offset lost export sales. Early expected planting expectations have a possible 5-million-acre switch from beans to corn next year. If this was to happen it could very well help the bean market if we reduced the supply by doing this. The bad side is we give into SA and their desire to supply the world with beans. There will be a lot of pencil pushing in the months to come ahead of planting.

All of us at Smith Fertilizer and Grain want to wish our customers a happy and joyous holiday season. Take time to give thanks for all the good things we have and enjoy some family time.