Crop futures on Thursday again regained some of the ground lost early this week, with support from warm, dry weather on the Canadian Prairies and a missed rain in the U.S. Midwest.
The big rain forecasted for dry Iowa on Wednesday wound up farther south in Missouri. That should mean the Iowa crop will remain stressed, although cooler temperatures are moderating the effect.
The dry conditions in the Midwest helped to modestly lift corn and soybean prices today.
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Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
Meanwhile on the Canadian Prairies it is hot and dry today, although thunderstorms are possible in central Alberta this evening.
The hot dry weather is expected to continue into early next week with no general rain and only fairly low potentials for thunderstorms.
November canola futures rose back above $500 a tonne, closing at $503.80, up $6.30.
SASK CROPS
The Saskatchewan Agriculture crop report today showed serious deterioration in crop conditions compared to the ratings two weeks ago.
Southern crops in particular declined.
The provincial good-to-average rating for durum fell to 21 percent from 43 percent July 10.
Lentils fell to 39 percent from 62 July 10.
Spring wheat stands at 58 percent good-to-excellent, down 10 percentage points and canola at 52 percent, down five percentage points.
The hot weather is rapidly pushing crops in the south toward maturity. Combining has begun on a few fall seeded and pea crops.
US SPRING WHEAT
The U.S. Wheat Quality Council wrapped up its tour of American spring wheat country today.
Its confirmation of bad yields helped support wheat futures today.
It pegged the average spring wheat yield at 38.1 bushels per acre, the lowest since 2007.
The USDA July forecast was 40.3 bu. per acre. The 10-year average for spring wheat is 43.87 bu. per acre.
The five year average is 46.42.
The tour pegged durum average yield at 39.7 bu. per acre.
The tour examined 443 spring wheat and 47 durum fields. Farmers in the severe drought region are questioning the tour results.
The results did not include the larger than usual number of fields that have been baled for feed.
Currently the USDA spring wheat harvested acreage number is 10.497 million acres, down only 3.7 percent from the seeded area.
Likely the decline from seeded to harvested will have to be increased because the number of acres abandoned and baled will be much higher this year.
Back in the drought of 1988, 22 percent of seeded fields were not harvested.
OUTSIDE MARKETS
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were up 29 cents US$49.04 per barrel.
In the afternoon, the Canadian dollar was trading around US79.63 cents, down from 80.36 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar was C$1.2556.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 19.97 points, or 0.13 percent,
at 15,191.36.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 85.54 points, or 0.39 percent, to 21,796.55, the S&P 500 lost 2.41 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,475.42 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 40.56 points, or 0.63 percent, to 6,382.19.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 17 503.80s +6.30 +1.27%
Canola Jan 18 509.10s +6.40 +1.27%
Canola Mar 18 513.40s +6.20 +1.22%
Canola May 18 516.70s +5.80 +1.14%
Canola Jul 18 519.70s +5.80 +1.13%
Milling Wheat Oct 17 270.00s unch unch
Milling Wheat Dec 17 277.00s unch unch
Milling Wheat Mar 18 282.00s -1.00 -0.35%
Durum Wheat Oct 17 308.00s unch unch
Durum Wheat Dec 17 309.00s unch unch
Durum Wheat Mar 18 291.00s unch unch
Barley Oct 17 140.00s unch unch
Barley Dec 17 140.00s unch unch
Barley Mar 18 140.00s unch unch
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound. Prices are displayed with fractions (2/8, 4/8, and 6/8 ) instead of decimals. -2 equals .25, -4 equals .50, -6 equals .75. The “s” means it is the settlement.
Chicago
Soybeans Aug 17 994-6s +6-0 +0.61%
Soybeans Sep 17 1000-0s +6-2 +0.63%
Soybeans Nov 17 1007-4s +7-2 +0.72%
Soybeans Jan 18 1016-0s +7-2 +0.72%
Soybeans Mar 18 1019-6s +7-4 +0.74%
Soybean Meal Aug 17 322.3s +2.5 +0.78%
Soybean Meal Sep 17 324.4s +2.5 +0.78%
Soybean Meal Oct 17 326.2s +2.6 +0.80%
Soybean Oil Aug 17 33.85s +0.12 +0.36%
Soybean Oil Sep 17 33.97s +0.12 +0.35%
Soybean Oil Oct 17 34.07s +0.10 +0.29%
Corn Sep 17 374-2s +1-4 +0.40%
Corn Dec 17 387-6s +1-6 +0.45%
Corn Mar 18 399-2s +1-4 +0.38%
Corn May 18 404-4s +1-6 +0.43%
Corn Jul 18 409-4s +2-0 +0.49%
Oats Sep 17 291-6s +3-2 +1.13%
Oats Dec 17 291-4s +3-6 +1.30%
Oats Mar 18 289-6s +3-2 +1.13%
Oats May 18 288-6s +2-0 +0.70%
Oats Jul 18 287-4s +2-0 +0.70%
Wheat Sep 17 479-6s +2-0 +0.42%
Wheat Dec 17 504-6s +2-0 +0.40%
Wheat Mar 18 525-2s +1-2 +0.24%
Wheat May 18 537-0s +1-2 +0.23%
Wheat Jul 18 544-2s +1-2 +0.23%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Sep 17 736-4s +6-4 +0.89%
Spring Wheat Dec 17 746-4s +6-4 +0.88%
Spring Wheat Mar 18 744-2s +4-4 +0.61%
Spring Wheat May 18 736-4s +4-4 +0.61%
Spring Wheat Jul 18 726-2s +6-4 +0.90%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Sep 17 481-0s +5-4 +1.16%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 17 508-0s +5-4 +1.09%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 18 525-6s +5-4 +1.06%
Hard Red Wheat May 18 539-0s +5-2 +0.98%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 18 553-2s +5-0 +0.91%
Chicago livestock futures in US¢/pound (rounded to two decimal places)
Live Cattle (Pit) Aug 17 114.300s unch unch
Live Cattle (Pit) Oct 17 113.575s +0.200 +0.18%
Live Cattle (Pit) Dec 17 114.400s +0.425 +0.37%
Feeder Cattle (Pit) Aug 17 147.825s +1.350 +0.92%
Feeder Cattle (Pit) Sep 17 148.950s +1.875 +1.27%
Feeder Cattle (Pit) Oct 17 148.250s +1.725 +1.18%
Lean Hogs (Pit) Aug 17 82.250s +0.250 +0.30%
Lean Hogs (Pit) Oct 17 67.675s +0.025 +0.04%
Lean Hogs (Pit) Dec 17 61.800s -0.125 -0.20%
