Crop Conditions, Hurricane Laura Weighing on Grain Markets

Hurricane Laura rainfall potential map. Photo: NOAA
Hurricane Laura rainfall potential map. Photo: NOAA

This week, USDA showed that the national good to excellent category for corn dropped 5 percent. Here in Michigan, corn in that category fell 11 percent and soybeans declined 10 percent.

According to Rick Hollister, the markets are still trying to digest the news.

“It’s pretty unusual this late in the growing season we’re making these adjustments,” he said.

Parts of eastern Michigan received decent rainfall Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, with some areas receiving more than an inch of precipitation. That might improve conditions for next week.

“We desperately need rain in southern Michigan,” said Hollister. “Crop conditions are still the buzz and we’re almost to September 1, and we’re still trying to evaluate the crops and how much deterioration since the yield checks and where USDA factors that in coming into the September supply and demand report.”

As we finish out the rest of the week, Hollister said the markets are watching Hurricane Laura to see where the trajectory of the storm will go once it makes landfall.

“It looks like we’re still projecting it to bounce into the lower Ohio River Valley and not get as far north and west as Iowa, but that forecast has changed a lot,” he said.

Hollister talks about steady export activity and opportunities to market corn and soybeans in his full comments in the player above.

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