Mark's Market Talk

Corn put on a rally last week and was 15 cents higher for the week. Export sales were good with most of the corn going to Mexico. In the past we could take Mexico for granted as they have almost always bought their corn from us. That is not the case anymore as Brazil has become a ready competitor for their business. We really need some corn sales from China and there is some speculation that we may see some sales to them this week after their holiday week comes to an end. November beans continued their streak of lower finishes as they closed down 9 cents. This is the fourth week in a row that they were lower. Demand has slowed on both exports and the domestic usage. The crush remains very profitable, but not as good as the past couple of years. Crop yields have been all over the board, but we keep reading and hearing that most producers are finding better yields than they were expecting. The question is were their expectations too low or is this crop that good. It appears that depends on the area. Locally there was a lot of concern that bean yields would be way off due to the hot dry August. But as harvest progresses, we keep hearing a lot of 60 plus yields so somehow these beans have done well for the conditions. Meanwhile most corn yields have been average or better which is a great testament to today’s hybrids. Now the big remaining question is, what will the markets do? We will get a little insight this week as the October reports will be released. This report will use the September numbers as our beginning stocks and they may, or probably will adjust the demand numbers. It will give the trade something to work with as harvest starts to wind down.