We are pleased to announce, Mr. Dale Plumer will be starting as your General Manager on August the 17^th.  Dale has a long history in the grain business and was currently  Senior Merchandiser for Bunge-CFS Grain in Griggsville.  Prior to that he was regional manager for JBS United in Pittsfield IL.  Please welcome Dale when he starts here as your General Manager. 

August 5th, 2020

CORN

Corn futures closed 2 to 3 cents higher today as a small recovery was noted from yesterday’s sharply lower session.  News was limited today as today’s bounce seemed to be mostly related to a recovery effort from yesterday. Hopes of a strong export sales report tomorrow morning did offer some support today.   The weekly ethanol report showed ethanol production was down from the previous week.  We estimate corn used in ethanol production for the week ended July 31st at 95.74 Mln. bu.  This is down from 98.52 Mln. bu. last week.   Ethanol stocks were up slightly, marking the 2nd week in a row of an increase.  Ethanol stocks were estimated at 20.346 Mln. barrels.   While up from last week, it still sits far below stocks of a year ago of 23.177 Mln. barrels.  HIS Markit, formerly Informa, has created a new organization to analyze data called Food and Ag Commodity Economics.  They estimated the 2020 corn crop at 15.036 Bln. bu., using a yield of 179 bpa.   The USDA is currently at 15.000 Bln. and a yield of 178.5 bpa.  Informa’s production is some 300 Mln. bu. below the Stone estimate we saw earlier this week.  Corn was able to close near its highs so we will see if that results in any follow through to the upside tomorrow. 

SOYBEANS

Soybeans struggled again today as prices finished lower.  This comes after a double digit lower close yesterday.  November beans traded through the 50-day moving average this morning and that added to the technical selling.   Funds continue to hold a net long position with some liquidation seen by that group the last couple of sessions.  Strong overall crop ratings and a record bean crop prediction this week has added to the selling.  The weather forecast remains favorable overall with a mix of heat and rain expected into the middle of August.  The group formerly known as Informa put out its crop estimates today.  They estimated bean production at 4.355 Bln. bu., using a yield of 52.5 bpa.  The USDA is currently at 4.135 Bln. bu. with a yield of 49.8 bpa.  The USDA will update its numbers on August 12th.  The USDA did announce a sale of 192,000 tons of beans to China for 20/21.  Equities and crude were both higher today.  The dollar was weaker.