Related News:
Corn, Soybean Futures Decline as Harvest Prompts Farmers to Boost Sales
Corn fell from a 15-month high and soybeans dropped from an eight-month peak on speculation that U.S. farmers will increase sales of recently harvested crops after cash prices rose.
Corn bids in north-central Illinois have surged 40 percent since June 29, reaching the highest level since June 2009 yesterday, on speculation that hot, dry weather will reduce yields, government data show. In north-central Iowa, bids have jumped 14 in the past month. Cash soybeans in central Illinois are up 4.5 since Sept. 1.
“Farmers are better off selling at harvest than paying commercial storage and storing the crops until next year,” said Dale Durchholz, the senior analyst at AgriVisor LLC in Bloomington.
Corn futures for December delivery fell 3.75 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at $4.625 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, the first decline in five sessions.
Yesterday, corn reached $4.69, the highest level since June 2009. The peak was 36 percent above the closing price on June 29, the day before the government said that farmers planted less this year than they had planned.
Soybean futures for November delivery fell 3.25 cents, or 0.3 percent, to close at $10.4875 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the CBOT. Earlier, the price reached $10.57, the highest level for a most-active contract since Jan. 7.
Crop Ratings
The corn crop was rated 69 percent good or excellent as of Sept. 5, the highest level for the date since 2004, Department of Agriculture data show. An estimated 6 percent of the crop was harvested, up from the average of 4 percent at the same time in the previous five seasons.
Corn futures for December delivery traded 18 cents below the May contract, compared with a discount of 22 cents a month ago, after futures rallied and hedge funds and other large speculators increased bets on higher prices to a record.
“It will cost 35 cents to store grain until May, and the futures do not provide an economic incentive to store corn,” Durchholz said.
About 64 percent of the soybean crop was rated good or excellent on Sept. 5, unchanged from a week earlier, the department said yesterday. Approximately 19 percent of the plants were dropping leaves ahead of harvesting.
“There was increased farmer-selling today after the early rally,” said Doug Bergman, a grain broker for Advantage Traders Group in Chicago. “Farmers are going to sell more of the crop with futures over $10.50.”
Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, valued at $48.6 billion in 2009, followed by soybeans at $31.8 billion, government figures show.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Wilson in Chicago at jwilson29@bloomberg.net
Rate These Stories
Rate this Page