Corn Futures Fall as U.S. Farmers Near Planting Completion — Daily Grain Highlights

By Kirk Maltais

--Corn for July delivery fell 1.5% to $4.55 1/2 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, in reaction to the USDA confirming that farmers are nearly done with planting corn in the U.S.

--Soybeans for July delivery fell 1.3% to $12.13 a bushel.

--Wheat for July delivery rose 1% to $6.93 1/4 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

On the Clock: The USDA Crop Progress report showed corn and soybean planting in the U.S. ahead of the 5-year average pace, pressuring futures Wednesday. Some 83% of the U.S. corn crop has been planted, 1 point higher than the 5-year average, and soybeans are 68% complete, up 5 points from the average. "The planting progress was a little better than expected and that brought some selling into the market last night," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. Spring wheat is also ahead of schedule, with it 88% planted, 7 points higher than average.

Losing its Grip: Weather in Russian growing areas continues to be unsupportive for the health of their wheat crop, but its influence on CBOT wheat has faltered - as concern for the Russian crop has given way to a reaction to the progress of U.S. farmers in crop planting. Rallying in CBOT wheat has hit a wall, says Dan Hueber of the Hueber Report. "Once its rally began to exhaust, there was little reason to hold up corn and beans," said Hueber.

INSIGHT

Cool Outlook: CBOT grains are mixed with steady progress in farmer's planting and mild temperatures paired with ample rainfall in many areas. "Two systems produce pockets of rain with fluctuating temperatures across the central U.S. over the next week, most likely resulting in 0.75" to 1.50" for most corn, soybeans, and spring wheat, and higher totals of 1.25" to 2.50" to hard red winter wheat in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas," John Stewart and Associates said in a note. Temperatures are expected to moderate and stay cool heading into mid-June, the firm said.

Off the Starting Line: With the USDA confirming that the majority of corn, soybean, and spring wheat planting is complete, analysts and traders are turning their attention to the USDA's crop condition data, expected to come in the USDA's weekly Crop Progress report starting next week. Conditions for corn may show issues with crops in some areas that received too much rainfall, said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note. "We'll get a better assessment on the impact of excessive wetness when we see the first crop condition ratings for corn," says Suderman. "That should put the ponding issues into perspective for this year's crop."

AHEAD

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj,com; @kirkmaltais)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 29, 2024 15:10 ET (19:10 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.