Market Report: Corn Higher, Beans Mixed

Corn and beans were slightly higher in the overnight trade, but as usual they opened this morning lower. By the close today, corn was up around 3 cents a bushel and soybeans got back to almost unchanged. Both markets turned about 11:45 this morning when the Informa numbers were released.

Informa lowered its Brazilian corn crop 450,000 metric tons but than raised the Argentina crop by 500,000 metric tons. That is an offset, but the total crop is not getting larger and the total production is below the last USDA estimate.

Informa's estimate for Brazilian soybeans dropped by 1 million metric tons but increased Argentina's soybeans by 1 million metric tons. Once again an offset and quite a bit below the last USDA estimate.

Also supportive might be the "real world" situation. There is good demand in the United States for corn and beans. For example, I have a big feed mill a few miles from my farm. They have had a cash bid for corn that has been around $3.75 a bushel since January. No matter what futures prices do that is the cash bid. Apparently that is what they have to offer to get farmers to sell corn.