Corn and wheat fell hard and oilseeds gained modestly following the release of two United States Department of Agriculture reports this morning.
Corn seeded acreage and March 1 stocks were larger than expected driving May corn down more than 4.5 percent, while soybean acreage was a little less than expected.
Wheat acreage was less than the average of analysts’ expectations and the March 1 stocks number was about as expected, however the sharp drop in corn dragged wheat lower.
Canola followed soybeans modestly higher.
May canola closed at $455.30, up $2.70 a tonne or 0.6 percent.
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New crop November closed up 90 cents or 0.2 percent at $446.80.
There was modest support for canola from the USDA’s survey that the pegged canola seeding intentions at 1.554 million acres, down nine percent from 1.714 million last year.
Soybean futures were also up less than one percent.
Soybean acreage came in at 84.635 million acres, shy of expectations for 85.919 million. Last year farmers seeded 83.701 million acres.
Analysts had expected that corn with its high seeding costs would be a big loser this planting season, but the decline was not as big as expected.
Corn was the biggest mover, with May falling 18.25 cents a bushel or 4.63 percent to $3.7625 a bushel.
New-crop December corn finished just above the psychological threshold of $4 per bushel, at an 11-day low.
The USDA survey of farmers showed that producers intend to seed 89.2 million acres to corn, up from the average of trader forecasts of 88.73 million acres. Last year farmers seeded 90.6 million acres.
Corn stocks March 1 came in at 7.745 billion bushels, compared to the average of traders’ expectations of 7.61 billion.
“Grain stocks for corn are implying that feed use may not have been near the trade’s expectation in the past quarter. That’s quite surprising and a negative on corn,” Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Allendale, told Reuters
May Chicago wheat fell 3.5 percent in sympathy with corn and on technical weakness. Also there were forecasts for rain in Russian wheat areas.
Wheat’s decline came a day after a four percent rise on Monday sparked by concerns over dry conditions in the southern U.S. Plains.
Kansas winter wheat futures fell almost three percent while Minneapolis spring wheat fell 2.5 percent, supported by the smaller than expected spring wheat acreage figure.
Indeed, farmers said they would seed slightly less spring wheat than they did last year.
Durum acreage is forecast at 1.647 million acres, up 18 percent over last year but still shy of the trades’ expectation of 1.759 million.
Here is a round up of the smaller crops:
Barley acreage in the USDA survey was up 10 percent at 3.258 million acres versus 2.975 million last year.
• Dry Pea area was up seven percent at 1.005 million acres versus 935,000 last year.
• Lentil acres are up 37 percent at 385,000 versus 281,000 last year.
• Flax acres are up 29 percent to 401,000 versus 311,000 last year.
• Chickpea acres down eight percent at 196,900 versus 215,100 last year.
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down $1.08 to US$47.60 per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was US78.85 cents, up from 78.81 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was C$1.2683.
In afternoon trade, U.S. stock indexes are down but the TSX composite is about flat.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola May 2015 455.30 +2.70 +0.60%
Canola Jul 2015 454.40 +0.90 +0.20%
Canola Nov 2015 446.80 +0.90 +0.20%
Canola Jan 2016 448.50 +0.90 +0.20%
Canola Mar 2016 449.50 +0.90 +0.20%
Milling Wheat May 2015 235.00 -6.00 -2.49%
Milling Wheat Jul 2015 233.00 -6.00 -2.51%
Milling Wheat Oct 2015 234.00 -6.00 -2.50%
Durum Wheat May 2015 323.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2015 313.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2015 318.00 unch 0.00%
Barley May 2015 203.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Jul 2015 203.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Oct 2015 188.00 unch 0.00%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans May 2015 973.25 +5.5 +0.57%
Soybeans Jul 2015 977.75 +5 +0.51%
Soybeans Aug 2015 977.25 +5.25 +0.54%
Soybeans Sep 2015 964.25 +6.25 +0.65%
Soybeans Nov 2015 955.25 +6 +0.63%
Soybeans Jan 2016 960 +6 +0.63%
Soybean Meal May 2015 326.8 +3.6 +1.11%
Soybean Meal Jul 2015 325.2 +2.9 +0.90%
Soybean Meal Aug 2015 323.7 +3 +0.94%
Soybean Oil May 2015 30.39 -0.1 -0.33%
Soybean Oil Jul 2015 30.62 -0.1 -0.33%
Soybean Oil Aug 2015 30.7 -0.11 -0.36%
Corn May 2015 376.25 -18.25 -4.63%
Corn Jul 2015 384.25 -18.25 -4.53%
Corn Sep 2015 392 -18 -4.39%
Corn Dec 2015 400.75 -17.5 -4.18%
Corn Mar 2016 410 -17 -3.98%
Oats May 2015 264.75 -5 -1.85%
Oats Jul 2015 266.75 -5.75 -2.11%
Oats Sep 2015 270.25 -3.75 -1.37%
Oats Dec 2015 273.5 -1.5 -0.55%
Oats Mar 2016 281.25 -0.5 -0.18%
Wheat May 2015 511.75 -18.5 -3.49%
Wheat Jul 2015 514 -19.25 -3.61%
Wheat Sep 2015 522.5 -19.75 -3.64%
Wheat Dec 2015 537.25 -18 -3.24%
Wheat Mar 2016 551 -16.75 -2.95%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat May 2015 576 -14.75 -2.50%
Spring Wheat Jul 2015 580.5 -15 -2.52%
Spring Wheat Sep 2015 588.25 -14.5 -2.41%
Spring Wheat Dec 2015 598.75 -14.5 -2.36%
Spring Wheat Mar 2016 610 -14.75 -2.36%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat May 2015 559.25 -17 -2.95%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2015 563.75 -17 -2.93%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2015 573 -18 -3.05%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2015 586.5 -18.25 -3.02%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2016 597.75 -17.5 -2.84%
