By Kirk Maltais

 

--Corn for December delivery fell 2.5% to $3.20 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday following new estimates by StoneX of higher crop yields thanks to good weather in the Corn Belt.

--Wheat for September delivery fell 2.5% to $5.08 1/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery fell 1.6% to $8.81 3/4 a bushel.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Mighty Maize: Good weather seen for U.S. crops may bring higher yields than previously expected, said StoneX. In its latest forecast for U.S. corn and soybean crops, StoneX predicts corn yields at 182.4 bushels per acre and soybean yields at 54.2 bushels per acre. That's up from the USDA's most recent estimates of 178.5 bushels per acre for corn and 49.8 bushels per acre for soybeans -- and has big implications for 2020 crop production. "If these are close to the actual yield numbers than new crop corn ending stocks are very close to 3 billion [bushels] and new crop soybean ending stocks is pushing 800 million [bushels]," said Craig Turner of Daniels Trading. "This implies harvest lows sub $3 for corn and low $8 for soybeans." StoneX's figures were a main driver of trading Tuesday.

Sunny Outlook: Supporting StoneX's predictions was confirmation from the USDA that crop conditions have stayed high this week. According to the report yesterday, the U.S. corn crop in good or excellent condition stayed at 72% this week, while soybean condition rose one point to 73% good or excellent. Spring wheat rose 3 points to 73% good or excellent as well. "Very little of the crop is poorly rated... given current weather outlooks, these numbers are expected to change very little next week as well," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor.

 

INSIGHTS

 

Everything Must Go: Farmers are increasingly selling their crops from last year that they've been saving in hopes of prices rising on the CBOT. "Cash-connected traders [say] that farm selling of old crop corn has quickened this morning with many just giving up on stored corn prices rising," said AgResource. "Farmers are willing to accept a better basis bid today -- than what will likely be offered during harvest."

Family Matters: Family farms that have declared bankruptcy under Chapter 12 in the first half of 2020 are up 8% from the same timeframe last year, the American Farm Bureau Federation says. Total filings of farm bankruptcies are down 10 cases to 284 filings in the first half of 2020, but family farms make up a bigger portion of those cases. Additionally, bankruptcies reported in the Midwest were up 23% for the first half of the year, according to the AFBF. The implementation of the CARES Act has helped mitigate Chapter 12 filings over the past three months, said John Newton of the AFBF, but with the stimulus expiring that effect is expected to dissipate.

 

AHEAD:

 

--The EIA releases its weekly update on ethanol production and inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--Corteva releases its second quarter earnings after the market closes Wednesday.

--Animal vaccine producer Zoetis Inc. releases its second-quarter earnings before the market opens Thursday.

--The USDA will release its latest weekly export sales numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

 

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 04, 2020 15:39 ET (19:39 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.