Corn basis slid for the sixth consecutive week falling another 11 cents this week amid harvest pressure, while Soybean basis lost 3 cents for the week ending October 3rd.
Harvest pressure has already been affecting basis for a few weeks, so when will basis bottom? Figure 1 illustrates that in more normal harvest year’s spot basis tends to bottom around the first week of October, but with some northern crops still behind in development this year basis lows may still be a week or two away. As of September 30th the USDA reported 12% of U.S corn is harvested compared to the five year average of 23% harvested. Soybeans were 11% harvested compared to the five year average of 20% harvested. Though the rate of basis decline seems to be letting up a bit, we still expect basis to fall more in the weeks to come Soybeans basis lost 3 cents this week, with parts of western Missouri losing as much as 8 cents. Soybean plants dropped their basis by an average of 5 cents this week while river markets bucked the trend and improved 2 cents on the week.On average, corn basis fell 11 cents this week with the largest losses seen in Iowa which fell as much as 20 cents. Ethanol basis contributed to the decline falling 14 cents as new crop grain comes onto the market. Basis in the southern part of the U.S and along the river remained mostly unchanged for corn.
