(AgProfessional) – Favorable conditions depressed corn prices again overnight. Not only are forecasters pointing to ideal weather during the days ahead, the weekly USDA Crop Condition report indicated that corn silking is farther along than anticipated. Our analysts on the Doane Crop Tour found good but variable prospects in northwest Illinois and eastern Iowa Monday. September corn futures dropped 6.0 cents to $5.3475/bushel early Tuesday morning, while December lost 6.75 cents to $4.9125.
The good weather also seemed to weigh upon soybeans futures Tuesday morning. A near-perfect environment in the Corn Belt and strong ratings on the weekly Crop Progress report are apparently dragging new crop prices downward, although old crop tightness, particularly for soybean meal, continued supporting the nearby contracts. Soyoil futures lagged once again. The Doane Crop Tour found somewhat disappointing results in northwest Illinois and eastern Iowa. August soybean futures slipped 2.5 cents to $15.1775/bushel as Tuesday dawned in Chicago, while August soyoil skidded 0.09 cents to 45.32 cents/pound, and August soymeal surged $12.5 to $514.9/ton.
Wheat futures also declined Monday night. The golden grain markets have developed a bit of downward momentum in the wake of recent losses, but the progress made in the winter wheat harvest, which has reached 75% complete, seemed to weigh rather heavily upon futures values. Spring wheat conditions declined seasonally, but remained slightly above the long-term norm. September CBOT wheat fell 4.75 cents to $6.55/bushel in early Tuesday electronic trading, while September KCBT wheat sagged 3.5 cents to $6.985 and September MGE futures slid 1.75 cents to $7.45.
Cattle futures edged higher in early Tuesday trading. That may have marked a modest rebound from their Monday losses, but traders are apparently seeing few signs of an end to seasonal weakness at this point. The monthly Cold Storage report might have been construed as being slightly bullish. August cattle were unchanged at 121.87 cents/pound just after sunrise Tuesday, while December added 0.07 cents to 128.42. August feeder futures rose 0.12 cents to 153.05 cents/pound in reaction to the corn weakness, while November gave back 0.02 cents to 158.75.
The Cold Storage report encouraged hog market bulls. Not only did the monthly USDA Cold Storage report suggest spring pork demand was surprisingly strong, the Monday afternoon cash and wholesale reports were quite supportive of CME lean hog futures. August led the deferred contracts higher overnight. August hog futures rallied 0.62 cents to 97.75 cents/pound in early Tuesday trading, while December climbed 0.15 cents to 82.45.
The Crop Condition report probably weighed upon cotton futures overnight. Not only did the good to excellent ratings increase somewhat, the poor to very poor percentage declined slightly. The overall ratings remain relatively low, which very likely limited the bearish reaction to the latest USDA data. October cotton was untraded at 86.39 cents/pound early Tuesday morning, while December had declined 0.08 cents to 86.11.
