Declining crops ratings likely to continue

The recent heat-wave in the Midwest has cause a decline in the corn and soybean crop ratings for the week ending July 17. The national crop ratings were down by three percent to take the rating to 66 percent. Like the corn crop, this year's national soybean rating is below the rating given to the crop the last two years as of mid-July.

But the rating is better than the ratings given to the crop in the middle of July from 2005 through 2008. The chances are high that this decline will continue, even if we get rainfall by the end of the week due to the type of heat that we are experiencing now. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers

Cellulosic ethanol poised for surge finally

Around the country and especially in the Midwest, a number of proposed plants that would turn corn cobs, wheat straw and other plant-based feed-stocks into fuel and sell it on the market are working to secure the last stages of financing, and some could become operational in the next few years.

A smattering of smaller pilot plants are already operating, helping companies to hone the technology and economics of their product. “With the right policies, we could unleash literally dozens of projects,” Brooke Coleman, executive director of the recently formed Advanced Ethanol Council, a coalition that includes cellulosic companies, said in an e-mail. “Companies are ready to go.” Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

Cash grain bids mixed; follow futures lead

U.S. cash grain prices were mixed Monday, following the lead of price action in the futures market.
Corn and soybean prices stumbled, succumbing to profit-taking in futures and slowly improving transportation, as the Midwest dug out from last week's winter storm over the weekend, a cash connected CBOT broker said.

U.S. grain futures were mixed Monday, closing with cash contract gains of about five to nine cents for winter wheat, and losses of two to three cents for corn, and seven to nine cents for soybeans. Basis levels held steady, as farmer selling remained light, as many producers with stored grain to sell were content to sit on the sidelines until after Wednesday's supply-and-demand report from U.S. Department of Agriculture, he added.

Basis is the difference between cash prices and futures.

Meanwhile, export demand and concerns about planting continued to support U.S. cash prices for hard red spring wheat. Demand for spring wheat, a high-protein variety grown in the northern Plains, has been strong after rains lowered the quality of wheat in Canada and Australia. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.