Market Report: Corn Firmer Wednesday, Beans Weaker

It was the sixth day in a row corn traded lower in the morning but firmed up by day's end. Corn closed 1-2 cents higher, so it was another moral victory. The dollar index was higher, making the gains in corn more impressive. Farmers in parts of the eastern and southern corn belt are still struggling to get their corn planted. In fact there is more rain in the forecast for those areas so it will be next week at the earliest before they can get back in the field. The Environmental Protection Agency slightly increased the amount of ethanol that would be required to be blended into the U.S. fuel. The 14.8 billion blend proposal is still below what is required in the law.

Beans continued to move lower Wednesday, posting losses of 5-10 cents. There was likely some profit taking going on after a $2 a bushel rally. Bean traders were talking about more bean acres this year given the delayed planting of the corn crop. Production estimates in Argentina and Brazil have dropped, but the bears argue that is "old news" and it is already factored into the market. That might be the case but the bulls say production estimates will drop further. Remember the old saying "big crops get bigger and small crops get smaller."