By Ryan Hanrahan
Bloomberg’s Ben Westcott reported that “corn futures topped the $5-a-bushel mark for the first time in 18 months as weaker-than-expected US crop tour results add to global supply concerns for the staple grain.”
“Reports from Western Iowa and Illinois released late Wednesday showed corn yields below those seen last year, according to data from the Pro Farmer Crop Tour. The two states are the country’s top producers,” Westcott reported. “The results come after yields in four other Midwestern states surveyed earlier in the week also came in below the tour’s prior three-year average.”
“Parts of the central US — where most of the crop is grown — were recently hit by severe storms, and the region also contended with sweltering temperatures earlier in the summer,” Westcott reported. “Most-active corn futures in Chicago rose by as much as 0.5% on Thursday to $5.005 a bushel, the highest since February 2025.”
“The subpar crop prospects in the world’s top corn exporter come after Europe was hit by a series of summer heat waves, with France forecasting its smallest corn harvest since 1980,” Westcott reported. “Plus, attacks in the Black Sea have slowed crop exports from Ukraine — another major supplier — to a trickle just before the corn harvest, potentially adding to the strain on global supply.”
“The gains for the grain helped push the Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index to a three-year high this week. Still, the $5-a-bushel level for corn could trigger farmers to boost sales, helping to improve near-term availability and put downward pressure on prices ahead,” Westcott reported. “‘Overall, $5 will likely hold as significant resistance for now as we approach harvest,’ Naomi Blohm, an analyst at Total Farm Marketing, said in a Wednesday note.”
Source : illinois.edu