HIGHLIGHTS

·         Market Trend—Corn, Mixed; Soybeans, ½ to 7 Lower; Wheat, 2-6 Lower   

·         Asia equity markets were mixed overnight:  the Nikkei gained .1%, the Hang Seng was off .2% and the Kospi, down .1% as traders marked time, awaiting further insight on U.S. military plans for Syria as well as the Fed’s stimulus program.   Futures for major U.S. indices are likewise mixed:  the S&P is off 1 ½; the Dow’s up 1 and the Nasdaq is 1 ¼ higher.  External markets find gold down $3.90 per oz; energies are mostly a little weaker and the $ Index is 81.605, up 1/10 of a point.   

·         Light showers fell across much of the Southern ½ of the Corn Belt yesterday with amounts generally around 1-2/10’s. Overnight rains in the western and central areas of the Plains will improve planting moisture levels for wheat, especially W KS and E CO. Some rain is in the forecast for the Western Corn Belt today as well as 75-100% coverage Mon-Wed of ¼ to 1”.  Rainfall is unlikely to develop in the Central and Eastern areas of the Corn Belt until early next week with up to 75% of the area possibly receiving 4/10’s. In South America, much of Mato Grosso is hot and dry but there is a chance of showers Tue-Thu of next week while Argentina will see showers and cool temperatures into early next week as the lower readings slow wheat development.

·         Sep Corn Up $.0175 at $4.80 ¾; Dec Corn Down $.0175 at $4.6450. Funds sold 5 K following the USDA report yesterday

·         Sep Soybeans Down $.07 at $14.35; Nov SB Down $.0050 at $13.9550.  Funds bought 12 K SB, 8 K SBM and were even on oil

·         Dec Wheat, Down$.02 at $6.3975; Mar Wheat Down $.0550 at $6.4750.  The fund buying totaled 3 KThursday   

CORN/SORGHUM

·         USDA pegs 2013 U.S. corn crop at 13.843Bbu vs. avg. trade guess of 13.641Bbu in a range from 13.360-14.000

·         USDA pegs U.S. corn 13/14 carryout at 1.855Bbu vs. avg. guess of  1.739Bbu (1.837 in August); range, 1.278-2.296

·         ATI Research: Interesting the USDA expects major exporter (Arg, Brazil and South Africa) shipments to decline by near 7 MMT this year but their fall 2013 supplies are up over 3 MMT; difficult to be very optimistic on U.S. SON exports

·         USDA boosts old-crop (12/13) corn usage vs. last month: Feed/residual, +25mbu; Exports, +20; & ethanol, +15

·         T-storm Weather: Cool areas of surface-level high pressure suppress rainfall across Corn Belt for at least several days

SOYBEANS/WHEAT

·         USDA pegs 2013 U.S. soybean crop at 3.140Bbu vs. avg. trade guess of 3.134Bbu in a range from 2.980-3.208

·         USDA pegs U.S. soybean 13/14 carryout at 150mbu vs. avg. trade guess of 165mbu (220 in August), range, 105-220

·         ATI Research: Big news in WASDE report was a 3 MMT increase to the Spring 2014 Brazilian soybean crop to 88 MMT.  Looks as if 2014 could be a repeat of 2013 in terms of a very snug U.S. situation while S America is maxing out exports

·         USDA pegs U.S. all wheat 13/14 carrryout at 561mbu vs. avg. trade guess of  544mbu (551 in August), range, 353-600

·         Canadian crop boosted 2 MMT to 31.5, resulting in a 10mbu reduction in HRS exports

·         T-storm Weather: Unusually heavy rainfall (1.25”-2.50”) through Saturday breaks dryness across western HRW wheat

ENERGY

·         Energy markets are lower: QCLV13, down $.98 to $107.62; QRBV, +.0020; QNGV,-$.020 and QHOV, -$.0126

·         Spot ethanol prices followed corn lower:  Tampa down as much as 20 cents; LA and Dallas were a dime to 11 cents lower; NY fell 9 ½ cents; the Gulf was off 7 /12 and Chicago declined a more modest 4 ½ cents to a $2.25-$2.35 range

·         RINs: 2012’s edged a ½ cent lower to 61-65 cents; 2013’s were also a ½ cent lower, 63-66 as were 2014’s to 64-66

·         Increased corn supplies pushed the Oct RBOB/ethanol spread 8 ½+ wider to $.9147/gallon

LIVESTOCK/POULTRY                 &nb​sp;                        &nb​sp;                

&midd​ot;         Choice boxed beef values eased 8-cents yesterday and are down $2.01 from a week earlier

·         Light cash cattle trading was reported late yesterday at $123, steady with last week’s price

·         After increasing $2.42 during the previous four trading days, the USDA pork carcass cutout value fell $1.31 yesterday

·         The USDA’s Iowa/Minnesota average cash lean hog price gained $2.02 yesterday to $94.94

Sources: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, AP, T-storm Weather