Market Facilitation Payments Round Two?

Both corn and beans were trading higher Tuesday morning because of wet weather and planting delays. Nation wide only 49 percent of the corn is planted and 19 percent of the beans. Just to put it in perspective the 5 year average would be 80 percent planted in corn and 47 percent of the beans at this date. With more rain in the forecast for the entire Midwest there will be a lot of farmers considering taking the prevented plant insurance payment.

Tuesday about midmorning beans began selling off and closed down almost 10 cents a bushel. There was a rumor that the Trump Administration was considering a $2 a bushel round two Market Facilitation payment for soybeans as there is no end in site for the trade war with China. The payment for corn was rumored to be only 4 cents a bushel.

So, bean traders assumed all the acres of corn that did not get planted would get switched to soybeans. There is no question that a $2 a bushel payment added to the cash price of beans would encourage farmers to plant more beans. However, there has not been any official announcement from the USDA about any Market Facilitation payments. Plus, would the payment be based on how many bushels of beans were produced in 2019?

There are a lot of questions that we do not know the answers to at this time. Plus, unless this wet weather pattern changes maybe we will not have the opportunity to plant any more corn or beans?