Corn not moving much on the week. September contracts expired on Wednesday going off the board at 6.73 ¼. December corn had a small gap up to start the week at $6.70 but ended the week at $6.65, if you take out the gap to star the week corn gained ¾ of a cent for the week. Yield estimates continue to drop with Pro Farmer Tour suggesting 168.1 bushels per acre. This is most likely on the lower side as data from the tour is typically a little lower than final yields. Continued drought and extreme heat in Europe drops yield estimates further. This points to the need for increased imports which will be more difficult in the low world corn stock situation we are in. Crude oil weakness did weigh on corn this week and ethanol production did fall, but margins are still strong and should support continued production.
Soybeans struggling this week with better-than-expected yield estimates from the Pro Farmer Tour, world soybean carryout expected to be the second highest ever, and potential demand destruction from Chinese lockdowns. September soybeans also went into delivery this week at $15.07 after dropping 70 cents on Monday as traders got out of the soon to expire contract. November soybeans posted moderate losses from $14.58 to $14.20. Pro Farmer Tour yield estimate came in at 51.7 bushels per acre, showing that USDA may not be too far off with soybean yields. China locked down another 40 million people this week from their zero tolerance Covid policies. We did have strong soybean sales this week with nearly 59 million bushels going to China and unknown.
Chicago wheat posting a small gain this week moving from $8.06 to $8.11. Wheat did start the week off strong with a 39-cent rally on Monday, but outside market pressure weighed on the markets. There is some support with Ukraine expecting a 30-40% decrease in winter wheat planting due to lack of financing, inputs, and machinery. Russia has been trying to sell its wheat supplies to get ready for what is expected to be a record production.