In the overnight session the grains traded a bit higher with corn up 1/2 a cent, soybeans up 3 cents and wheat up 2 1/2 cents this morning. The outside markets are weaker with the mini Dow down 1.14 percent and the e-mini S&P down 1 percent. The U.S. dollar is trading mostly unchanged at the moment. This morning it was announced that job growth increase was less than expected last month as non-farm payrolls increased 173,000 in August, down from 245,000 in July. Unemployment fell to 5.1 percent, a 7 1/2 year low.
Rains are expected to cover most of the Midwest next week with the heaviest precipitation expected between Sunday to Tuesday. The precipitation should be up to 5 inches in parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa and the northern parts of Illinois. Despite the expectation for heavy rains there seems to be little concern that the precipitation will result in damage to the crop. Currently the early freeze risk remains very low.
Keep in mind that Monday is a Holiday and the grain markets will be closed until 7 PM CST when the night session opens for Tuesday’s trade. On Friday the 11th, the USDA will release their latest Crop Production report and Supply and Demand report at 11 AM. The latest 3rd party yield estimates have revised their corn and soybean yields higher from last month but few have lifted them to the current USDA forecast. Planalytics see’s corn yield potential shrinking slightly in its latest forecast as the heat throughout Midwest speeds up the maturity process and limits the maximum yield potential.
