DTN Closing Grain Comments

General Comments:

Corn was down 5 1/4 cents in the July contract and down 4 1/2 cents in the December. Soybeans were down 1 1/2 cents in the July contract and up 1/4 cent in the November. Wheat closed down 2 cents in the July Chicago contract, up 2 cents in the July Kansas City, and down 5 1/4 cents in the July Minneapolis contract. The June U.S. dollar index is down 0.05 at 98.87. June gold is up $0.70 at $1,256.20 while July silver is down 2 cents and July copper is down $0.0225. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 20 at 20,945. June crude oil is down $1.02 at $47.82. June heating oil is down $0.0142 while June RBOB gasoline is down $0.0086 and June natural gas is down $0.031.

Corn:

July corn closed down 5 1/4 cents, giving back roughly half of Monday's gain, but still holding within its sideways trading range after a weekend of heavy rains and flooded fields in Missouri and southern Illinois. Late Monday, USDA said 34% of U.S. corn was planted, but had no category to indicate the percent of corn submerged and reports of prevented planting acres won't come until later in the season. With final planting dates for crop insurance listed as late May for Missouri and June 5 for most of Illinois, those corn acres are at risk of either switching to soybeans or not being planted at all, depending on how the next six weeks of weather goes. Rain is expected to return to the area on Wednesday and will add to delays. Meanwhile, Brazil's second corn crop continues to do well and Argentina's corn harvest should be past 30% complete with the seven-day forecast staying favorable for further progress. July corn continues to trade within its sideways range, holding above the support of March's low at $3.61 3/4. DTN's National Corn Index closed at $3.37 Monday, priced 41 cents below the July contract and at its highest in eight weeks. There were 730 contracts of May corn delivered early Tuesday. In outside markets, the June U.S. dollar index is staying quiet, near its lowest prices in five months ahead of Wednesday's 1 p.m. CDT announcement from the Federal Reserve meeting.

Soybeans:

July soybeans closed down 1 1/2 cents Tuesday, easing back from its highest prices in four weeks as Monday's market excitement fades. While this week's flooded fields add to concerns that fewer acres will be planted in 2017, the more likely scenario at this point is that more acres will try to take advantage of soybeans' later planting dates of roughly June 20 for Missouri to Indiana and June 30 for southwestern Missouri. Much will depend on weather and after this week, the extended forecast looks warmer and somewhat drier. Meanwhile, Argentina continues to enjoy mostly favorable weather for soybean harvest progress and should be close to 40% finished after this week. July soybeans remain in a downtrend, but it continues to be interesting that prices have held support for four weeks with help from the willingness of commercial buyers. DTN's National Soybean Index closed at $8.95 Monday, priced 75 cents below the July contract and near its highest price in five weeks. Among May contracts, there were 861 deliveries in soybeans, 629 deliveries in soybean oil, and none for meal.

Wheat:

After trading both sides of Monday's closes, July Chicago wheat closed down 2 cents while July K.C. wheat was up 2 cents, still finding support from the weekend's unusual weather. The U.S. Wheat Quality Council's Hard Winter Wheat Tour kicked off day one and DTN's Crops Technology Editor Pam Smith will have a report for us later Tuesday. Early tweets showed instances of frost damage and samples of disease, but we are still waiting for news from western Kansas where snows were heavy over the weekend. Monday's Crop Progress report said 42% of winter wheat was headed, so crops were clearly vulnerable to the weekend's snow and heavy rains, but wheat is also known for being resilient. Monday's rallies turned the trends higher for both Chicago and K.C. wheat and pressured bearish noncommercials, but there is still plenty of uncertainty as to how this year's crop will turn out. DTN's National SRW index closed at $4.09 Monday, priced 47 cents below the July contract and at its highest price in seven weeks. DTN's National HRW index closed at $3.75, also at a new seven-week high. Among May contracts, there were 349 deliveries of Chicago wheat and 742 deliveries of K.C. wheat early Tuesday.

Todd Hultman can be reached at todd.hultman@dtn.com

Follow Todd Hultman on Twitter @ToddHultman1

(CZ)

Copyright 2017 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.