Corn and Beans Lower Last Week

Corn struggled bit last week, but it sure could have been worse after the negative hook reversal on the charts the previous week. For the week, the nearby March contract lost 4-1/2 cents and new crop December lost 3-1/4 cents. Typically this is a tough week for prices with the USDA outlook forum. This year however they were not really bearish. The USDA is projecting fewer corn acres this year and carryover actually decreasing by about 100 million bushels year over year.

Beans managed to gain about 2 cents a bushel Friday on strong export sales of 15.2 million bushels of old crop. For the week, new crop November lost 11-1/4 cents a bushel. Here again it could have been a lot worse. The USDA outlook forum called for more acres this year but with a lower yield so carryover remains the same at about 420 million bushels. So, it all comes down to how good the crop is in South America and the second crop of corn.