Wednesday November 7, 2012



Commodity
Period
Price  
Weekly Movement




Corn CBOT
Dec. 
7.44 ¼ 
?
1 ¾ 
cents
Soybeans CBOT
Nov. 
15.08 ¾ 
?
28 ¼ 
cents
Wheat CBOT
Dec. 
8.94
?
23
cents
Wheat Minn.
Dec. 
9.59 ¾ 
?
10 ¾ 
cents
Wheat Kansas
Dec. 
9.30
?
19
cents
  
Canadian $
Dec. 
1.0023
?
4
points

CORN
Corn prices have gotten a recent boost due to concerns of a slow start to the planting season in parts of Brazil and Argentina. Argentine farmers have planted 40 percent of the estimated 8.4 million acres of corn production this year.
U.S. ethanol production is headed for the first decline in 16 years. Tight margins have resulted in a 14 percent drop in output this year to 825,000 barrels a day, or 12.6 billion gallons annually, according to Energy Department data.
Ontario producers are reporting a wide range of yields this year. Timely rains this past summer accounted for differences in yield expectations for many. Recent rains have slowed harvest.

SOYBEANS
Rain in South America is also delaying soybean plantings in Brazil and Argentina. The fear is that delayed planting will delay harvest, leading to a longer time period before soybeans reach the marketplace.
Soybean prices have been under pressure in recent weeks, losing nearly 15% since hitting an all-time high on September 4, as U.S. farmers started harvesting soybeans at a brisk pace. Nearly 93% of the U.S. soy crop was harvested as of last week, while the five-year average for this time of year is 86 percent.
In Ontario, soybean yields have been highly variable. Again it has depended on location and timing of precipitation later in the summer that have produced better than expected yields overall.


WHEAT
Wheat has traded higher on concerns about dry soil in the Great Plains. After the severe U.S. drought this year, the soil remains very dry in the southern Plains. 
Global wheat supplies are also tightening. Export competition from the Black Sea region is limited as supplies are running low in the Ukraine and Russia. Recent GASC tenders were won by Romania, Russian and French wheat. U.S. wheat prices were lower than their European counterparts but freight rates were higher.

Contract prices for November 7, 2012 at the close are as follows:
SWW at $305.74 per tonne ($8.32/bu.), SRW at $292.91 per tonne ($7.97/bu.), HRW at $313.07 per tonne ($8.52/bu.), and HRS at $317.01 per tonne ($8.63/bu.).


       Ontario Grain Market Commentary for November 7, 2012
       By Todd Austin, Grain Farmers of Ontario