Canola, soybeans, corn, oats and wheat rose on weather worries.
Although there has been good progress seeding dry land in the past few days, a shift to a wetter forecast on the Prairies means more seeding delays and that supported canola futures.
American farmers made good use of drier weather last week and have 63 percent of the corn crop in the ground, up from 40 percent the week before, but that is still shy of the normal pace of 75 percent. More rain is expected later this week in the Midwest and next week.
Frost on Monday struck parts of the western corn belt and the northern range of hard red spring wheat causing some damage.
Excessive rain in the Midwest has hurt what was expected to be a large soft red winter wheat crop.
Dry weather in France and Germany has hurt wheat and canola. A European analyst said the French wheat crop would likely be five percent less than last year.
Oil World forecast the EU rapeseed crop would fall to 19.5 million tonnes, down from 20.59 million last year and a three-year low.
Partly offsetting the concerns about Europe are perceptions that Black Sea growing regions are enjoying good growing weather.
Oil World also said it now puts Brazil’s soybean crop at a record 73 to 73.6 million tonnes, up from last year’s 68.7 million. Oil World expects Brazilian farmers will increase soybean area by 2.4 million acres in the coming year.
Crop markets climbed despite losses in crude oil and copper, pressured lower by news that U.S. housing starts and building permits fell in April The large inventory of existing homes for sale is discouraging new home sales. There was also weakness in U.S. industrial production partly due to part shortages from earthquake damaged Japanese manufacturers.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Jul 11 $561.90, up $5.30
Canola Nov 11 $567.10, up $4.20
Canola Jan 12 $574.50, up $4.40
Canola Mar 12 $580.00, up $4.20
The previous day’s best basis was $18 under the July contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The May contract’s 14-day Relative Strength Index was 44. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market
Western Barley Jul 11 $205, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans Jul 11 $13.41, up 14.5 cents
Soybeans Aug 11 $13.3625, up 13.75
Soybeans Nov 11 $13.205, up 14.25
Corn Jul 11 $7.2025, up 22.75
Corn Dec 11 $6.5325, up 17.75
Oats Jul 11 $3.57, up 9.0
Oats Dec 11 $3.72, up 9.0
Minneapolis (per bushel0
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $9.3625, up 26.0 cents
Spring Wheat Sep 11 $9.3675, up 23.25
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $9.455, up 19.25
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York fell 46 cents to $96.91 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0232 US, down from $1.0306 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 97.73 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index closed up 49.71 points, or 0.37 percent, to 13,441.06.
The Standard and Poor’s 500 index fell 0.53 points, or 0.04 percent, to 1,328.94.
