Mark's Market Talk

Corn had another great move higher last week. July corn ended the week 25 cents higher while the Dec was 27 higher. It was purely a weather market as rain and cool temps kept the corn planters in the shed most days. There was some limited activity Thursday prior to another rain event last Friday and the forecast looks wet into this week. We are now in the timeframe that corn planting delays matter. It seems we are in a cool pattern that we have yet to break. 75-degree days have been few and far between so corn planting conditions continue to be less than ideal. Last week Ukraine loaded the first corn ship since the invasion started. They have been moving some grain by rail into Turkey, but it has been slow. The ships will be slow for now as the port still has some mines they will have to dodge. Beans ended the week mixed as July beans were 3 cents lower while Nov beans were 9 cents higher. We saw support from export sales and weather. China was back in the market for both corn and beans. We may not have the lowest prices in the world right now, but we are the most reliable shipper in the world and right now that counts. The next 2 weeks will tell the tale on these markets. Weather is always a factor and this year it is more important than ever. We have a lot riding on this crop since the inputs were much higher than normal. Today it appears it cost cost even more to plant the 23 crops. We have been buying some fall 23 corn for better than 6.00. The dollar inverse looks big compared to fall of 22 at this time. However, a lot of water will go under the bridge in the next year and a half. And if we did not have enough to be concerned about, the CME announced new trading limits that start May 2^nd.  The daily limit for corn will be 50 cents while the second day goes to 75 cents. Bean limit goes to 1.15 on the first day and 1.75 on the second day. For some reason it seems they raise the limits once the prices have already went up strong. Let’s hope we do not have a need to use these on the way down.