Grain prices turned lower today. Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Source:  Successful Farming

U.S. grain prices ended the trade on Wednesday lower. July corn was down 19 ¼¢ with December corn down 20 ½¢. July soybean futures were 15 ¼¢ lower with November beans down 26¢. July Chicago wheat closed down 46 ¾¢, July Kansas City wheat closed down 43 ¼¢ and July Minneapolis wheat closed down 40 ¾¢.

Livestock prices closed the day mixed. Live cattle futures finished the day down $1.50 on the June contract, May feeder cattle closed down $1.32 and June lean hog futures closed the day 95¢ higher.

Crude oil is down $3.10 and the Dow futures were 1,161 points lower.

It was a risk off day for both commodities and stocks. The UN is working to get the wheat and corn out of Ukraine to help ease some of the tight supplies around the world and help those countries that are dependent upon grain from Ukraine. Russia also has a big wheat crop growing that will likely add to World supplies.

The Wheat Quality Council is conducting their wheat tour this week. They will wrap up and share their final assessment Thursday afternoon. Yesterday’s observations were that the crop is definitely stressed but maybe not as bad as many have feared.

Corn and soybean market were followers of the lower wheat prices and once the Stock market tipped over it was hard to keep the Funds from not liquidating some of their long positions.

In the outside markets, Target reported earnings that were less than expected and that sent the stock market lower. Once the stock market tipped over, any commodities that were higher turned lower as well.

Live cattle and feeder cattle were lower on the day and remain sensitive to what the stock market does and how traders are viewing the US economy. Lean hogs on the other hand were lower all day but turned higher late in the day. Packers were busy buying up hogs to slaughter as the market is talking about lower supply in the coming weeks.

Grain and stocks are lower today.

At mid-day we have July corn futures down 17¢ with December corn futures down 19¢. July soybean futures are 16-17¢ lower with November futures down 23¢. July Chicago wheat is 45¢ lower, July Kansas City wheat is 51¢ lower and July Minneapolis is 42¢ lower.

Livestock prices are lower with live cattle down $1.40, feeder cattle are $1.10 lower and lean hogs down $1.35 per hundred.

Crude oil is down $2.22 this morning and the Dow futures are 723 points lower.

Wheat futures are under the most pressure. Combination of a little better yield assessment from the first day of the wheat tour and a large crop growing in Russia. Traders are taking risk off the table with thoughts that World wheat supplies might be getting larger. Corn and soybeans are also under pressure stemming from the pressure in the wheat complex.

Meats are also under pressure. Inflation seems to be slowing up demand a bit for pork and beef here in the US.

In the outside markets, stock market is selling off again here today as Target reported earnings that were less than expected. The main driver there was higher fuel costs cutting into Target’s earnings.

Today is a risk off day as most stocks and commodities have turned red as Funds liquidate some of their long positions and taking the money to the sidelines.

U.S. grain prices are mixed here this morning. July corn futures are 7-8¢ lower, July soybean futures are 2-3¢ higher, July Chicago wheat is 30¢ lower July Kansas City wheat futures are 34¢ lower and July Minneapolis wheat futures are 29¢ lower.

Livestock prices are lower this morning. Live cattle are 35¢ lower, feeder cattle are 50¢ lower and lean hog futures are 80¢ lower.

Crude oil is up 98¢ this morning and the Stock market is down 355 points to start off todays’ trade.

After 2 stronger days of trading the wheat futures are pulling back. When we are at these elevated prices a small correction is still a big move. Corn seems to be consolidating a bit in here waiting to trade on any new news and soybeans remain a bit choppy. Bull spreads are working today and that could keep the market from pulling back too hard.

Cash lean hog prices are very firm. Futures this week have seen a nice rebound. Seems like something big is about to happen in the pork complex. Hearing some talk of hog numbers to slaughter are about to drop very hard. This could be a reason why cash is so firm as packers go out and get what they can get their hands on.

Weather still looks to be very favorable to get the corn and soybean crops planted. There are still a few pockets that have done very little if any planting bit those areas are getting smaller each day. Look for a big push in planting progress this week.

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