At 7:05am:
Reporting on harvest activity in central Illinois Monday. Farmers in McLean County seemed to be wrapping up corn and getting ready to move on to cutting soybeans. As OptionEye mentions this morning, the farmers we talked to reported better-than-expected corn yields, but still just at their average or some below. We did talk to one farmer that says he got 20-30 bushels above his average. That farmer was south of Bloomington, IL about 45 miles.
Meanwhile, one analyst that visited to our reporter group estimated the U.S. corn harvest at 20% complete, soybeans 22% harvested. He thinks USDA will have to be around 158-160 on final corn yield average, and 42.0 bu./acre national bean yield.
Price Calls
With 10-15% new-crop corn sold already, vs. a normal 30-35% at this time of the year, he sees a lot of selling to occur in late winter, to pay March bills.
Near-term, he sees soybeans between $13.00-$13.50. By December, soybeans are expected to reach $12 per bushel. By, February, he sees soybeans dropping to $10.
We will travel through Stark County, Illinois and onto Iowa today.
Mike
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At 6:55 am:
Early calls: Corn is seen 1-2 cents lower, soybeans 2-4 cents higher, and wheat 2-4 cents higher.
Trackers:
Overnight grain, soybean markets=Trading mostly higher.
Crude Oil=$0.74 per barrel higher.
Dollar=Higher.
Wall Street=Seen trading lower, as investors remain nervous about the U.S. government shutdown.
World Markets=Asia/Pacific stocks were higher, Europe stocks lower.
More in a minute,
Mike
