Good morning!
Quiet overnight session for corn and soybeans, wheat faces profit-taking... Corn futures are fractionally to a penny higher after holding to a narrow trading range overnight. Soybeans also saw a quiet overnight session and the market is steady to 1 cent higher of 6:30 a.m. CT. Wheat futures are down 4 to 5 cents amid some profit-taking. The U.S. dollar index is slightly lower today, while crude oil futures are chopping around unchanged.
Argentine government orders striking port employees to get back to work... Argentina’s work ministry has ordered striking workers at the country’s main Rosario shipping hub to suspend their work stoppage for 15 days and return to the negotiating table. A union spokesman said that workers had not received any official notification so the strike will continue for now. Workers have been striking for a nearly a week, halting shipments from the port system that typically ships 80% of the country’s total grain output.
Handel defeats Ossoff in Georgia special election... Final results for the House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price saw Karen Handel (R) defeating Jon Ossoff (D), with Handel receiving 51.9% of the votes to 48.1% for Ossoff. The most expensive House race in history was a toss-up coming into election day, although most polls showed a slight lead for Ossoff. Democrats said the race was a referendum on President Donald Trump and pulled out all the stops, but still fell short. Elsewhere, Republican Ralph Norman beat Democrat Archie Parnell in the race for Budget Director Mick Mulvaney’s South Carolina House seat — but by a much closer than expected 3.2%.
President visits Cedar Rapids, Iowa today... He will view and talk about precision agriculture and other farm tech during a visit to Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he will announce a commitment to include rural broadband development in his promised infrastructure package. USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will join the president to highlight the need to expand rural broadband to give farmers access to new tools and to reiterate his “commitment to agriculture and rural America,” said Ray Starling, special assistant to the president for agriculture, trade and food assistance. U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, the former longtime Iowa governor, and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, Perdue’s likely pick for a key USDA undersecretary post, will also be on hand.
Iowa newspaper focuses on declining Mexico imports of U.S. farm products... The Des Moines Register’s editorial board argues that Trump’s anti-Mexico rhetoric has hurt sales of Iowa farm and agricultural products south of the border. “Perhaps the drop will be short-lived, as currencies fluctuate and other economic factors change,” the board wrote. “But Mexican officials are busy shopping for food suppliers in other countries. Uncertainty about NAFTA and future U.S. trade policies has encouraged our third-largest customer for farm goods to cultivate new partnerships. And they’re making progress.” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross could comment on this topic during his appearance with Trump today in Cedar Rapids.
Trade policy issues focus in and outside Washington… USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue hosted his counterparts from Canada and Mexico yesterday in Savannah, Ga., where the three officials noted the importance of keeping trade open. Next week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative holds three days of hearings on the 23-year-old agreement to prepare for the start of renegotiations as early as August. Meanwhile, U.S. Trade Rep Robert Lighthizer appears today before a congressional panel on the Trump trade policy agenda.
Soybean planting on hold as Indian farmers wait for monsoon to arrive... India’s monsoon has been slow to arrive in key growing states like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, delaying soybean planting, reports the Solvent Extractors Association of India. Typically, monsoon showers cover most parts of Madhya Pradesh by mid-June, but this year rains have yet to arrive.
Tyson takes steps to improve animal welfare... In yet another sign than consumers’ concerns about animal welfare are impacting the industry, Tyson Foods Inc. announced it will launch a new animal well-being initiative as well as a pilot project to test using gas rather than electricity to stun chickens before they are killed as a possibly more humane solution. The company also announced a new video monitoring system that will track how live chickens are being handled. Tyson is also deploying animal well-being specialists across all of its beef, pork and poultry operations.
Cattle futures trading well below cash market... Traders have extended futures’ discount to last week’s cash trade that averaged around $130, signaling traders’ lower bias toward this week’s action. But with futures trading double-digit below last week’s average cash price, traders have likely overdone it to the downside. Plus, some live cattle futures contracts dipped into oversold territory yesterday, according to the nine-day Relative Strength Index.
Pork prices on the rise... The pork cutout value surged $2.66 yesterday on solid movement of 326.30 loads. The cutout value is now within a $1.70 of the psychologically significant $100.00 per cwt. level. Recent gains signal some buying for July Fourth and BLT season is likely underway.
Overnight demand news... Egypt tendered to buy at least 30,000 MT of soyoil. Jordan canceled its tender to buy 100,000 MT of milling wheat after receiving just one offer. Japan received no offers for feed-quality wheat or barley in its simultaneous buy and sell auction. Bangladesh tendered to import 50,000 MT of wheat.
Today’s reports:
- 8:00 a.m., Cost-of- Production Forecasts -- ERS
- 9:30 a.m., Weekly Ethanol Production -- EIA
- 2:00 p.m., Broiler Hatchery -- NASS
