Mark's Market Talk for October 21, 2024

Most people are saying this harvest is happening faster than they have ever seen for a year with large yields. Some of us remember being done in early October a time or two, but those were short crop years. Bean harvest is mostly done, and we have some that are finishing their corn harvest already. Everyone appears to be well ahead of schedule and the 10-day forecast has very little or no rain in it. The bulk of the harvest will be done before the end of the month. We are seeing some harvest price pressure as this huge crop moves to town. Storage space may become an issue as farm bins fill and the balance heads to town. This past week we lost 11 cents on December corn and 35 cents on November beans. Traders are still digesting the latest USDA numbers. There appears to be some agreement among analysts that the bean crop may shrink, while the corn crop appears to be getting bigger. By the time the USDA addresses yield the next time, harvest will be mostly over. Exports have been better in the past month or so as we have the cheapest products in the world. Meanwhile bean planting has started in South America and right now the weather is kind to a lot of their growing area. Their “USDA” predicts record corn and bean production in the coming year. The world is already top heavy for bean supplies, and we do not need to add to this. Our low prices do not seem to be detouring them from planting large acres. They are becoming more like us, wait I think several southern producers are us, and want to plant the maximum acres possible. We will need to see how this all plays out.