In the overnight session the grains traded lower with December corn down 1 ½ cents, November soybeans down 2 ¾ cent and Chicago Wheat down ¾ cents.
On Friday, September 29th the USDA is scheduled to release its Quarterly Grain Stocks report. The average trade guess for corn is for 2.353 billion bushels with the highest analysts forecast at 2.495 billion bushels and the lowest forecast at 2.083 billion bushels. The average trade guess for soybeans is 338 million bushels with analyst forecasts ranging from 363 million bushels to 321 million bushels. The average trade estimate for wheat is 2.205 billion bushels with forecasts ranging from a high of 2.495 billion bushels to a low of 2.083 billion bushels.
The planting pace for winter wheat is running ahead of pace in both Ukraine and Russia. Russia has reached 64 percent planted on an expected 43.24 million acres and Ukraine is 35 percent planted on an expected 6.17 million acres. Ukraine and Russia are expected to plant the same acreage as last year but some rainy weather throughout certain regions of Russia poses a risk to the crop according to the Agriculture Ministry.
With last years bumper wheat harvest, Russia is widely expected to become the world’s largest wheat exporter this marketing year. Weather conditions are better than last year throughout Ukraine which should continue to support a rapid planting pace.
On Tuesday, the U.S Environmental Protection agency announced it was seeking comment on a proposal that was announced in July to reduce the 2018 biodiesel blending requirements. The agency has expressed concern that the potential decline in biodiesel imports could raise domestic prices in a way that would cause economic harm.
The risk of trading futures, hedging, and speculating can be substantial. Grain Hedge is a Branch of Foremost Trading LLC (NFA ID: 0307930)