Your Pro Farmer newsletter (July 22, 2023) is now available

Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal and immediately started air strikes on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, which triggered supply concerns and fueled strong rallies in the corn and wheat markets. Soybeans surged amid forecasts calling for extreme heat and dryness during the final 10 days of July. Rallying markets are exciting but it’s imperative you don’t get caught watching without a plan. We have historical perspectives on summer corn and soybean rallies in “From the Bullpen” this week. Recent rains have helped improve the drought footprint and crop conditions a little, but the corn and soybean crops remain below average. The extended forecast suggests weather the remainder of the growing season will be generally favorable. On the ag policy front, there isn’t much confidence a new farm bill will get done by the Sept. 30 expiration of the current legislation – or by the end of this year. Economically, China continued to get downbeat data, but its central bank didn’t cut interest rates this month. While Chinese consumer confidence has rebounded a little from its 2022 low, there are no signs they are willing to spend their way out of the economic doldrums. We cover all these items and much more in this week’s newsletter, which you can download here.