Dry, hot Midwest drives crop futures higher

Worries about hot, dry weather in the U.S. Midwest drove grain futures higher Monday, including canola.

New crop corn futures rallied five percent, gaining back all the ground, and more, that they lost Friday.

The USDA crop condition report released this afternoon showed corn’s good-to-excellent rating deteriorated again, this time to 63 percent. Analysts expected a two-percentage point drop to 64.

Last year at this time the rating was 70 percent.

Corn’s strength washed over to oilseeds.

July canola closed at $607.40, up $5.50.

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November closed at $568.90, up $9.20.

Support for canola also came from heavy weekend rain over large parts of the Prairies, putting stress on crops. The upside was limited by forecast for warmer, drier weather later this week.

Soybeans oats and wheat are also up.

• Early market gains were attributed to relief that the majority of Greeks in the weekend election had voted for pro-bailout parties, indicating that at least for now they will stay in the euro zone. Momentum from that soon waned though as attention returned to Spain’s debt problems.

• In the weekly crop rating report, USDA put U.S. spring wheat at 76 percent good-to-excellent, up from 75 percent the week before, and 72 percent last year. The crop is developing quickly with 33 percent headed, up from the five-year average of seven percent.

• Soybean good-to-excellent was pegged at 56 percent, down from 60 the week before ad 68 percent the year before.

Winnipeg (per tonne)

Canola Jul 12 $607.40, up $5.50 +0.91%

Canola Nov 12 $568.90, up $9.20 +1.64%

Canola Jan 13 573.10, up $9.40 +1.67%

Canola Mar 13 577.00, up $9.70 +1.71%

Western Barley Jul 12 $237.00, unchanged

Western Barley Oct 12 $210.00, unchanged

Milling Wheat Oct 12 $252.70, unchanged

Milling Wheat Dec 12 $260.00, unchanged

Milling Wheat Mar 13 269.00, unchanged

Durum Wheat Oct 12 $275.50, unchanged

Durum Wheat Dec 12 $280.00, unchanged

Durum Wheat Mar 13 $286.60, unchanged

Barley Oct 12 $183.00, unchanged

Barley Dec 12 $185.70, unchanged

Barley Mar 13 $188.70, unchanged

Chicago (per bushel)

Soybeans (P) Jul 12 $13.8425, up 8.25 +0.60%

Soybeans (P) Aug 12 $13.7025, up 13.25 +0.98%

Soybeans (P) Sep 12 $13.505, up 18.5 +1.39%

Soybeans (P) Nov 12 $13.3925, up 25.25 +1.92%

Corn (P) Jul 12 $5.995, up 20.0 +3.45%

Corn (P) Sep 12 $5.37, up 27.5 +5.40%

Corn (P) Dec 12 $5.34, up 28.0 +5.53%

Oats (P) Jul 12 $3.16, up 8.25 +2.68%

Oats (P) Sep 12 $2.99, up 5.25 +1.79%

Oats (P) Dec 12 $2.87, up 7.75 +2.78%

Minneapolis (per bushel)

Spring Wheat Jul 12 $8.025, up 15.0 +1.90%

Spring Wheat Sep 12 $7.5225, up 11.75 +1.59%

Spring Wheat Dec 12 $7.5925, up 14.0 +1.88%

Nearby light crude in New York was down 76 cents at $83.27.

The Bank of Canada noon rate for the loonie was 97.41 cents US, down from 97.62 the previous trading day.

The U.S. dollar was $1.0266 Cdn.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index rose 105.68 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 11,630.23. It was its highest close in nearly two weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 25.28 points, or 0.20 percent, at 12,741.89.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 1.94 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,344.78.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 22.53 points, or 0.78 percent, at 2,895.33.