Mark's Market Talk for September 3, 2024

What happened to the month of August? As normal summer has flown by and before we know it there will be frost on the pumpkins. Today’s comments will be short. We are coming off a holiday weekend, and coming off a week of higher prices for corn and beans. Last week corn was 10 cents higher while beans closed 27 higher. Does this mean the lows are in and we will trend higher into harvest? Beats me. What I do know is beans may have a tough time getting a lot of traction with the current yield estimates that the trade is using. If early yield data proves those estimates wrong, we could see some recovery. However, most of the bean growing areas have had a kind August with just a few areas needing that August rain to finish. China and others have bought a lot of US beans the past month as we are the best buy right now. South America is 6 months away from their next prime harvest time so we need to be making these sales while we can. There might be a touch more optimism on the corn market. Yield data will set the direction we go. Usage has remained strong and the export pace has been good. China is still missing from the corn export reports as they have not bought any US corn. They are attempting to raise more domestic corn on their own farms and their hog herd is shrinking right now. They are buying more meat from us which is good for both the livestock guys and the grain producers. The weather story is done in our country and in the near future, the South American weather will come forward. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the Labor Day holiday. Harvest is just around the corner, and we will all meet ourselves coming and going.