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Good Morning farm country. Davis Michaelsen here with your morning update for Wednesday, May 26. From Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today, these are some of the stories we are watching this morning:
Corn futures saw a mix of followthrough selling and corrective buying overnight and the market is currently trading mixed, with nearbys favoring the upside and new-crop futures the downside. Soybeans also saw two-sided trade overnight, but futures are currently trading low-range and down 4 to 8 cents. SRW wheat futures are trading 3 to 5 cents lower, HRW wheat is down 1 to 3 cents and spring wheat futures are 3 to 4 cents lower. The greenback is posting modest gains and crude oil futures are down slightly.
Argentine port workers launched another 48-hour strike at midnight as they continue to push to be designated essential workers so they can receive Covid-19 vaccines. Eleven unions announced the work stoppage, saying a strike was necessary, “given the exponential increase in cases.”
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has asked lenders to stop selling investment products linked to commodity futures to mom-and-pop buyers. The banking regulator has also reportedly asked lenders to completely unwind their existing books for such products.
U.S. consumer confidence ticked lower in May for the first time this year. “Consumers’ short-term optimism retreated, prompted by expectations of decelerating growth and softening labor market conditions in the months ahead,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board.
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced legislation to extend the current federal biodiesel tax credit program through 2025. “The biodiesel tax credit has proven to work by reducing our dependence on foreign oil and lowering greenhouse gas emissions,” Grassley said in statement.
President Joe Biden will “rely on ally countries to supply the bulk of the metals needed to build electric vehicles and focus on processing them domestically into battery parts, part of a strategy designed to placate environmentalists,” two administration officials with direct knowledge told Reuters. The plans “will be a blow to U.S. miners who had hoped Biden would rely primarily on domestically sourced metals.”
Republican members of the Senate ag panel are calling on USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to make public a detailed explanation and any supporting economic analyses that clarifies how the Biden administration’s proposed tax increases will affect farm estates.
The U.S. has vaccinated 50% of its adult population against Covid-19. It’s the first large country to do so. Today, the state of Ohio will randomly draw the name of one vaccinated adult to win $1 million.
A big decline in corn futures caught the livestock sectors’ eye on Tuesday, with feeder cattle rallying. But June live cattle remain at roughly a $3 discount to last week’s cash cattle trade, signaling traders are still skeptical about the cash market’s ability to rise given ample market ready supplies.
Cash hog bids fell on Tuesday, but the pork cutout value shot higher. Tuesday’s kill was a marked improvement from last Tuesday.
