Mark's Market Talk for October 28, 2024

We had 4 up days last week before Friday put a damper on the party as the markets closed lower. For the week corn was up 11 cents and beans advanced 18 cents. Export sales were very good for both commodities as we are competitive in the world market. Today it appears the USDA corn demand number might be too low which would chisel some carryout from the last report. However, the corn yield may increase a bit as where corn is good, it is really good. Ground piles are showing up across the corn belt and that means 2 things. Yields are good and harvest price pressure may linger around longer than normal. There is currently a wide spread of basis levels. Northern Iowa plants are paying a premium for nearby delivery as harvest has wrapped up and producers are holding their stored grain. Down south, in our area, the basis levels are wider as we deal with a larger than normal harvest. Dry corn has made handling easy as you just bin it and go on. However, the loss on 11 to 12 percent corn in shrink alone is over 4 percent. Add in some head loss and suddenly you have a yield loss of 10 to 12 bushels an acre. It is the same as combining 9 percent beans. I won’t say it is impossible to put moisture back into harvested grain, but it rarely works. There is a lot of talk in the marketplace concerning the presidential election and how it will affect prices. Years ago, an upcoming election was normally good for agriculture as money came our way to get votes. Now with over 98 percent of the population being consumers, it appears this has shifted to what politicians can do for the general public. One thing is certain, all media sources are going to lose a lot of revenue once this election is over.