Another Week It Could Have Been Worse

It was another week when you could say it could have been worse. The USDA in Thursday's report increased the national average corn yield to an all time record of 175.1 bushel an acre. Traders expected an increase but not to an all time record. With the crop condition ratings about 10 percent below last year in the good to excellent category I do not know how you get a higher yield than last year? Maybe traders are taking the USDA report "with a grain of salt" because corn is trading only a little bit lower than before the report.

The USDA left the national average yield for beans unchanged while traders expected a small decrease. So it was a nonevent for beans. For the week November beans gained a quarter of a cent. Now it all comes down to demand and the weather in South America. After the report I kept thinking about one of the old sayings in the grain markets. "Maybe the bear market is over when bearish news does not make the market go lower."