CBOT Close

Corn

May corn closed at $3.77, down 4 cents. The jury is still out on corn plantings, we will get a better idea on Monday, but only after the close, what progress has been made this week. Opinions are widely differing, based on the best information I have to hand right now, it seems that the US will be split in two next week along a line roughly South West to North East. East of the front…record-breaking heat along with gusty winds will warm and dry the soil from Iowa to Ohio. West of this front much colder and wetter conditions will prevail. Private exporters reported sales of 116,000 MT of corn to unknown overnight.

Soybeans

May soybeans finished at $10.40 ¼, up 2 ½ cents. Export sales of 120,000 MT of soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2009/2010 marketing year were reported today. The Argentine crop keeps shrinking. StormX note in one of their newswires that the main areas of Argentina and Brazil left to harvest are the ones that contain the biggest potential for further yield losses. With virtually no rain in the forecast for these areas over the next week, crops here will only get smaller.

Wheat

May CBOT wheat finished at $5.32 ¼, up 3 cents. As spring wheat plantings in the critically important state of North Dakota remain virtually non-existent, July Minneapolis finished up 27 ½ on the week. Eastern North Dakota and Minnesota will get some relief from precipitation over the next 6 to 10 days from April 30 to May 4 according to the National Weather Service but temperatures will remain below normal not allowing for much drying of the soil. Crops in Russia and parts of Europe are also looking under threat due to weather concerns, and plantings in Argentina could be 18-20% lower according to some reports.