Soybeans up 4¢. Friday, May 17, 2024

July corn is down 1½¢.

July soybeans are up 4½¢.

CBOT wheat is down 2¾¢. KC wheat is down 3¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 5¼¢.

This morning the Northwest Iowa-based Commstock Report painted a picture of the difficulties the weather is giving farmers right now.

“When spring began early, starting in February this year and fieldwork progressed in March, one would have thought that we would not be fighting to get crops in as we are yet in mid-May,” says the report. “We have gone from drought last fall to waterlogged this spring. We have gotten half of our crop here planted in April and are still waiting on the opportunity to plant the second half. We hear of isolated instances where farmers have planted nothing yet. Random planting progress is being made wherever conditions allow.

“Assuming that we get the second half of our crops planted soon, we will essentially have two very different crops given the time lapse between them. Pollination will get spread out during the summer. We have not had good drying days in between rains. Planting conditions have actually deteriorated from April into May. What this means for the crop is too soon to entirely say but it no longer feels like a positive start. We had intended to get soybeans in early and as that has not happened, it won’t. There is a yield consequence to every day delayed at this point. There is a long season yet and a lot can happen. I fear the switch to hot/dry this summer.”

Looking internationallly, Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX, says “An oil refinery at the Russian city of Novorossiysk was struck by drones and missiles overnight, garnering the attention of the commodity markets.

“Novorossiysk is located on Russia’s Black Sea coast. It’s where Russia moved much of its Black Sea fleet after Ukraine started attacking that fleet when it was located near Crimea. The port at Novorossiysk is also a major port for the export of grain and energy commodities. At least eight explosions were reported by local residents during the attack, which also led to power outages in the region. However, our sources indicate that grain loading activity continues at the port today.”

Live cattle are up 70¢. Feeder cattle are up 65¢. Lean hogs are down $1.63.

Crude oil is up 13¢.

The U.S. Dollar Index June contract is down to 104.31.

S&P 500 futures are up 5 points. Dow futures are up 22 points.

Tags: wheat, futures, live cattle, feeder cattle, lean hogs, corn, soybeans