First Thing Today Audio | August 19, 2021
Corn futures are down 5 to 6 cents in early trade and soybeans are 14 to 17 cents lower, with both markets hitting new lows for the week. Winter wheat futures have tumbled 8 to 11 cents. Spring wheat futures are down 3 to 4 cents. The U.S. dollar index has climbed to its highest level since early November. Crude oil futures are facing heavy pressure and at three-month lows.
On Day 3 of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, scouts measured an average corn yield potential of 196.30 bu. per acre for Illinois, up from 189.4 bu. last year on Tour and 184.4 bu. for the three-year average. Pod counts in a 3’x3’ square came in at 1,280 pods for the state, also up notably from 1,247 pods in 2020 and 1,186 pods for the three-year average.
We also released the results for the western-most three districts of Iowa last night. Corn yields and soybean pod counts were up from last year’s derecho-hit crop. Compared with the three-year average, corn yield potential was marginally lower in District 1 but up from year-ago in Districts 4 and 7. Soybean pod counts were up from the three-year average across all three districts.
The full results for Iowa will be released tonight. Minnesota results will also be released this evening. Our Pro Farmer production and yield estimates (informed by Tour data, but separate) will be released at 1:30 p.m. CT on Friday.
Significant rains are expected for the Northern Plains today and Friday, with some followup precipitation likely late Saturday into Sunday, reports world Weather Inc. Also of note, western Canada’s Prairies recorded their first frost and freezes on Wednesday, but impact on crops should be limited and no frost is expected outside of Canada.
President Joe Biden said U.S. troops will stay in Afghanistan until all Americans are evacuated out of the country, even if they must remain past the Aug. 31 deadline previously set. Biden told ABC News that 10,000 to 15,000 Americans need to be evacuated and that there are around 50,000 to 65,000 Afghans and their families that the U.S. wants to get out of the country.
Builders are running up against rising material costs, trouble attracting enough workers and difficulty securing a sufficient number of lots. Housing starts fell 7% in July compared with June.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Vermont today with Senator Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and is expected to make dairy aid announcements. Expectations are that dairy aid will be announced by Vilsack, including aid that was a part of the December Covid aid package.
Active cases of African swine fever in the Philippines are declining and are confined to just 22 (0.7%) of the nearly 3,000 villages that have recorded outbreaks since 2019, the country’s ag ministry said.
Beef packing profit margins are nearing an eye-popping $1,000 a head. Choice boxed beef values climbed further on Wednesday. Iowa and Nebraska have seen some cash cattle action from $126 to $127, steady to up slightly from the week prior.
Strength in lean hogs yesterday may have been partially driven by concerns an African swine fever outbreak at a large commercial operation in Bulgaria might foreshadow a European ASF outbreak. The pork cutout climbed yesterday amid solid movement.
