Market Report: Corn and Beans Higher

Both corn and beans closed out February on a positive note. Corn was up 4-5 cents and beans up 4-6 cents.

There was still a lot of talk about the truckers' strike in Brazil, along with the delayed harvest. Eventually, the truckers strike will be settled and their record crop will hit the world market. More supportive longer term is the late harvest. Farmers in Brazil typically plant corn right after the beans are harvested. If it is delayed too long, some of those acres of corn will not be planted.

Today was the deadline for updating your bases and yields. I saw a news release from the USDA that that deadline was extended to March 31. Remember, February is the month for setting the Crop Revenue Coverage insurance prices. Those prices are not very pretty compared to recent years. Corn was set at $4.15 a bushel compared to $4.62 in 2014. Soybeans are at $9.73 a bushel compared to $11.36 in 2014. This means, at least for now, our guarantees in dollars per acre are going to be a lot lower than last year.