Corn Holds Monday Strength to Bell

Monday’s corn strength stuck around for the afternoon as the board ended the first trade day of the week near the highs. For the front month contracts that took prices another 11 1/2 to 18 3/4 cents higher. September closed with a 3/4 cent premium to December, though the cmdtyView cash index still has prices in the $7s as an ~44 1/8 cent premium to Sep. December 2023 contracts closed 7 cents higher to $6.23 1/4. 

USDA’s Crop Progress report showed 86% of the corn crop was in or past the dough stage, and 46% was dented. That compares to the 5-yr average pace of 88% and 52% respectively. NASS saw 8% of the crop mature, with 72% in TX and 24% in KS. Last week national maturity was 4% and the 5-yr average for wk 35 is 9%. Corn conditions were a 339 on the Brugler500 Index, which was down from 342 last week. Conditions improved in PA, though CO, TN, and KS were decisively lower wk/wk. Corn in IA scored a 369 on the Brugler500 Index, and compared to 379 in IL, 346 in IN, and 298 in NE. 

The weekly update showed 23% of the 22/23 sorghum crop was mature as of 8/28. That is down 2% points from average maturity. Milo harvest reached 18% complete, though Texas at 62% harvested is the only state with reportable progress. The 5-yr average is to be 20% harvested by week 35. 

USDA reported weekly corn shipments were 689,052 MT from the week that ended 8/25. That was down from 821k MT last week but compares to 583k MT inspected during the same week last year. As the MY rounds out, USDA reported the weekly total corn exports at 54.6 MMT. Last year’s export program reached 66 MMT at this point. 

Sep 22 Corn  closed at $6.83 3/4, up 15 cents,

Nearby Cash   was $7.27 7/8, up 10 1/4 cents,

Dec 22 Corn  closed at $6.83, up 18 3/4 cents,

Mar 23 Corn  closed at $6.87 3/4, up 18 cents,

New Crop Cash   was $6.55 3/4, up 19 3/8 cents,