In the overnight session corn is trading ¾ of a penny lower with soybeans unchanged and a 2 cent increase in wheat. Wheat prices found support yesterday after touching $5.00 ¾ briefly during the session. Wheat seems oversold at these levels after falling sharply from the $6.77 high on December 28th. Keep an eye out for a bounce in wheat prices during the day session.
In the US, showers are expected throughout the plains through this weekend which should improve the soil moisture profile for ¾ of the Plains wheat acreage. The precipitation should be followed by snowfall of between 4-8 inches which will help protect the crop from the below zero temperatures that are forecasted for next week.
Yesterday, it was announced that the USDA’s attaché in Canberra Australia pegged the countries 14/15 wheat production at 23.2 million metric tons which is .8 million metric tons below the existing USDA forecast. The forecast was cut due to dryness in late 2014 which especially affected Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Due to the dry weather the USDA is expecting a 16% decline in yields compared to last year and a 14% decline in wheat production compared to last year’s total of 27.01 million metric tons.
Central Brazil continues to benefit from precipitation which is expected to expand north beginning next week. The northern part of Brazil’s growing region has received 61% below normal precipitation over the last 30 days which will negatively impact crop yields in this growing region. Southern parts of Brazil are currently experiencing more showers and are expected to receive more precipitation in the 11-15 day forecast. A grains analyst out of Brazil, Safras & Mercado, lowered their Brazil soybean production forecast to 95 million metric tons from 95.9 previously expected in December. They also lowered their Brazil corn forecast to 74.7 million metric tons from their previous forecast of 75.5 million metric tons.
