Historical data shows that states in the Southeastern U.S.—Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee—should soon be wrapping up. However, USDA’s crop progress report shows corn harvest in those three states are well behind the five-year average.
Progress has moved to a crawl after several rain events and hurricanes have passed through the region, and according to Rick Hollister of The Andersons, it’s pushing corn demand into the Midwest and West to feed poultry.
“They’ve struggled so much in Tennessee, northern Mississippi, northern Alabama, and Georgia to get that Southern crop harvested, and they’re struggling with another hurricane on their heels later this week,” he said.
That’s not the only weather-related push the markets have been seeing. Weather in South America has remained dry.
“They’re waiting for rain to get their soybean plantings going,” said Hollister. “The soybeans close to the equator, folks like to double crop—the first planted should be in by now or on it’s way there. They have not made much progress so it puts the second crop in jeopardy of being extremely late as well.”
That dry weather is also a contributing factor to the wheat market, nearing and crossing over into $6 territory.
“Argentina is a big winter wheat grower, but it’s in the other season—they like to export to markets we traditionally export to, and their winter wheat harvest is a question of how dry it’s been and what yields might be,” said Hollister.
