Corn futures are 3 to 5 cents higher in most contracts, with the market consolidating after last week’s heavy losses. Soybeans enjoyed gains overnight and are currently up 4 to 8 cents. SRW and HRW wheat futures are a penny or two higher, with spring wheat up 7 to 10 cents. The U.S. dollar index is higher, with crude oil futures under pressure.
USDA will update its U.S. and global balance sheets at 11:00 a.m. CT. USDA will not issue survey-based estimates for U.S. corn, soybean and cotton crops but it will incorporate acreage estimates from the June 30 Acreage Report and some expect some yield adjustments.
Precipitation maps for the past 66 hours released by World Weather Inc. show rains largely missed or were light in the Dakotas and across the Upper Midwest, with the heaviest precipitation occurring in southern and eastern areas of the Corn Belt.
China plans to add 10.85 MMT in storage capacity for its grains stockpiling program, the state-controlled Global Times reported over the weekend.
The Senate returns this week, but the House doesn’t return to the Capitol for another week, and its members are scheduled to go back home for August recess two weeks later.
The Federal Reserve said the widening Covid-19 vaccination program has helped the U.S. economy stage a robust rebound, while pledging that monetary policy will continue to provide “powerful support.”
Tokyo today enters a new state of emergency due to Covid-19 which will last through Aug. 22, a period which includes the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County recorded more than 2,000 new coronavirus cases in two days.
White House climate envoy John Kerry is in Moscow today for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to align goals between the two powers ahead of November’s United Nations climate change conference.
China’s ag ministry announced it will no longer require small pig farms to receive environmental approval from the government before breeding pigs. This is part of China’s ongoing effort to rebuild its hog herd.
Boxed beef values continue to slide. The product market often softens following the July 4 holiday, and that has certainly been the case this season. Average cattle weights slipped to 25 lbs. under year-ago when marketings were backed up.
The lowest hog slaughter tallies of the year paired with strong consumer demand should lift prices. Pork production the week ending July 10 dropped 16.2% from the week prior, though that did include some holiday downtime. Reports of a severe ASF outbreak in China signals China may remain a buyer of U.S. pork longer than has been expected.