Good morning!
Grains weaker this morning... Corn futures showed mild followthrough selling throughout the overnight session, while soybeans and wheat have weakened this morning following two-sided trade earlier in the session. As of 6:30 a.m. CT, corn futures are trading around a penny lower, soybeans are fractionally to 2 cents lower and wheat futures are mostly 4 to 6 cents lower. The U.S. dollar index is around 150 points higher and front-month crude oil futures are about $1.35 lower.
Strong initial CCI ratings for corn, spring wheat... USDA rated 75% of the corn crop and 74% of the spring wheat crop as “good” to “excellent,” up 11 points and 10 points, respectively, from year-ago. On the weighted Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index (CCI; 0 to 500-point scale, with 500 representing perfect), the corn crop started the growing season with a rating of 385.6, up 19.9 points from last year at this time. The initial spring wheat CCI rating of 378.6 was up 8.4 points from last year. Click here for details.
Crop Progress Report highlights… Following are highlights from USDA’s crop progress and condition update as of June 2:
- Corn: 75% good/excellent (64% last year); 91% planted (89% average); 74% emerged (73% average).
- Soybeans: 78% planted (73% average); 55% emerged (52% average).
- Spring wheat: 74% good/excellent (64% last year); 94% planted (90% average); 78% emerged (69% average).
- Cotton: 61% good/excellent (60% last week); 70% planted (70% average); 9% squaring (8% average).
- Winter wheat: 49% good/excellent (48% last week); 83% headed (78% five-year average); 6% harvested (3% average).
Cordonnier trims U.S. corn production forecast, raises soybean outlook... Crop consultant Dr. Michael Cordonnier cut 500,000 acres off his corn plantings estimate to 89.5 million acres (harvested acres of 81.7 million) due to wetness concerns in the western Corn Belt. He left his yield estimate at 179 bu. per acre. Cordonnier now forecasts the U.S. corn crop at 14.62 billion bushels. For soybeans, Cordonnier increased plantings 300,000 acres to 86.8 million acres (harvested acres of 85.8 million) and left the yield at 52 bu. per acre. His soybean production forecast is now 4.46 billion bushels.
India raises wheat production forecast... India is likely to harvest 112.9 MMT of wheat this year, the country’s ag ministry said, up 900,000 MT from its previous forecast. The country’s rice production was estimated at 136 MMT, with total grains output seen at 328.8 MMT.
Philippines approves tariff cut for rice, extends lower tariffs on other commodities... The Philippines approved lower tariffs on some commodities to combat inflation and ensure ample supplies. Tariffs on rice will be cut to 15% for both in-quota and out-of-quota rates, down from 35%, through to 2028. Lower tariffs on corn, pork and mechanically de-boned meat were also extended until 2028.
Striking workers to be locked out of Australian sugar mills... Australia’s largest sugar producer Wilmar Sugar and Renewables will bar workers who take part in strike action from its mills, the company said. “Today, Wilmar Sugar and Renewables advised more than 1,200 wages employees that anyone participating in industrial action from start of shifts tomorrow morning (Wednesday, 5 June) will be locked out until further notice,” the company said. Locked-out workers would not be able to enter Wilmar’s facilities and would not be paid until the measure was lifted, it said. The company has already delayed the start of cane processing at its mills by between two and nine days after strikes beginning last month disrupted preparations. Australia is the world’s fourth-largest sugar exporter and Wilmar produces more than half of the country’s sugar during the cane crushing season.
USDA announces General sign-up CRP approvals, Grasslands CRP enrollment... USDA approved 199,214 out of 251,247 acres submitted during the general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) sign-up in March for enrollment starting Oct. 1, with an average rental rate of $63 per acre. Additionally, USDA opened the Grasslands CRP enrollment from June 3-28, allowing producers to offer working lands to preserve grasslands, with a minimum rental rate of $13 per acre. Among the three CRP sign-up types — General, Continuous and Grasslands — Grasslands CRP now has the most enrolled acres, with 8.6 million acres compared to 8.3 million Continuous CRP acres and 7.8 million General sign-up CRP acres. With 24.7 million acres enrolled in CRP by the end of March, USDA can only enroll another 2.3 million acres under the current 27-million-acre cap. This limit could be reached soon, particularly with the potential that many of the 500,000 acres maturing from CRP on Sept. 30 could be re-enrolled in the program.
Wholesale beef prices strengthen... Wholesale beef prices continued their recent climb on Monday, with Choice boxes up $2.40 and Select $1.99 higher, while movement totaled 90 loads. While hefty carcass weights are offsetting some of the reduced slaughter numbers, it isn’t a full offset. As a result, wholesale beef prices are climbing, though packer margins remain in the red.
Cash hog index firms, pork cutout drops... The CME lean hog index is up 24 cents to $91.73 as of May 31, marking the third straight day of gains following the recent mini slump. The pork cutout dropped $1.82 to $101.43 on Monday as all cuts weakened.
Overnight demand news... South Korea purchased 133,000 MT of corn expected to be sourced from South America or South Africa. Japan is seeking 103,767 MT of milling wheat via its weekly tender. Egypt tendered to buy an unspecified amount of wheat from multiple sources.
See ‘Policy Updates’ for late-breaking morning news updates... For updates to items in “First Thing Today” or any late-breaking morning news stories, check “Policy Updates” on www.profarmer.com.
Today’s reports
- No reports scheduled.