Friday, July 02, 2010

Greetings from Reynolds United!

It is hot! Not only hot but the wind has to blow with hurricane force. The only good thing about our hot weather is that the crops are growing.

Knee-high corn by the 4^th? Try chest high!

There is some early wheat that looks like it trying to turn colors. Could we see some wheat harvest in July?

Reynolds United will be closed July 3^rd, 4^th & 5^th for Independence Day. The grain markets will also be closed on Monday. Night markets resume on Monday night.

Grandkid watch… 7 days & counting. They will be up here next Friday!

With the prospect of a big fall harvest, it looks like Reynolds United Co-op will not have any storage available during harvest. All bushels dumped will be applied to contract or sold the day of unload. If you have any questions, talk to Travis or me. If conditions change, this policy might also be altered. I will keep everyone posted.

By far, the biggest piece of agricultural news that hit the scenes this week was the USDA Planted Acreage Report and the June Grain Stocks Report. You talk about catching the market off guard; this week’s corn report did exactly that. While the average trade guess was expecting 89.302 million acres of corn this year, the USDA report only found 87.872 million acres.  While this is still over the 86.5 million acres planted in 2009, it is well under this year’s expectations. The state that showed the most increase over expected acres was Indiana. States with the biggest declines from expectations were South Dakota and Nebraska. For soybeans, it was a little less dramatic. The trade expected acreage around 78.292 million acres. The report found 78.868 million acres. States showing the biggest increase in soybean acres vs. expectations were Nebraska and Minnesota. States with the biggest decreases were Indiana and Illinois.

As for the June Grain Stocks Report, corn stocks on inventory on June 1^st were 4.31 billion bushels. This is below the expected 4.613 billion average trade guess. For soybeans, stocks came in at 0.571 billion bushels.  The trade expected a number in the 0.592 billion range.

The US wheat harvest is now 38% complete. The week's open weather allowed for considerable harvest progress. Traders estimate Texas is 90 percent complete, Oklahoma 95 percent, Kansas 75 percent, southeastern Nebraska 75 percent, and south central Nebraska 65 percent complete. Harvest has also been very active in southeastern Colorado into east central Colorado, but has yet to get under way in northeast Colorado into the Nebraska Panhandle. Protein is averaging 11.7% which compares to 12.1% last year.

Corn is 73% good/excellent with corn in North Dakota rated 89% good/excellent. Soybeans are 67% g/e and North Dakota beans are rated 74% g/e. US spring wheat crop is 84% g/e and North Dakota’s crop rated 87% good/excellent.

Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack made a statement last week that he is confident that the EPA will allow the current 10% ethanol blend rate to be raised to 15% in the very near future.  Whether he has some inside information, or he is just trying to advertise his wishes is yet to be known. However, what we do know is that a change to 15% would make a dramatic surge in corn demand. 

The other news out of Washington, D.C. this week is not as positive for grain prices.  One more effort to construct legislative language that would reinstate the Soy-Diesel tax credit failed this week.  One source said that we would probably not see another effort again until 2011.  In one other legislative report, we found out this morning that after a 20 hour session, the US House and Senate have came to an agreement on a Bank and Financial Regulation Bill that will overhaul US financial regulations.  Little reaction has been heard on this bill so far as all interested sources are still trying to determine the likes and dislikes to the new language.  I am sure we will hear a lot more on this subject next week.

In some foreign news, China is now beginning to unload some of the first corn they bought from the US over the past weeks. There was some concern about how long China would quarantine the ships due to their strict GMO concerns. However, things seem to be going much smoother than expected so far.

Canada came out with a report this week, which no one seems to be paying any attention to. The report was their Planting Intentions Report. However, with all the rain they had in June, most believe that intentions and reality are clearly two different things. There will be a lot more interest in the July Report than the June Report.

One final comment before we move into local prices… there is already some talk in Brazil about soybean planting being hampered in the coming months due to dry conditions.  While it is certainly too early to pay much attention to these discussions, it is interesting to see talk of dry conditions while we look out over all the ponds we have scattered everywhere.

Locally, our prices had a good week (especially corn!) Corn closed up $.33 this week @ $3.08. New Crop corn is @ $3.15, up $.24. Beans ended the week @ $8.55. Up $.03 with new crop beans @ $8.21, DOWN $.06. Wheat closed the week @ $4.76, up 2 cents.

In closing out our letter this week, I want to lay humor aside for this week and instead, pay tribute to the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

 

To us, a couple of hundred years later, when we look at the declaration, all we see is a few names etched in ink. But have you ever stopped to think about the cost that was associated with those leaders putting their names on that piece of paper? If you haven't, I think the following will touch you as much as it did me.

A TRIBUTE TO THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of
Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett,
Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. His home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she
died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, I ask you on this 4th of July holiday, while enjoying your weekend and spending relaxing time with your friends and family, take a few minutes and silently think about these patriots and everything they laid on the line for you and me. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Freedom is not free. Thank God for the liberties we enjoy, and May God Bless America.

Have a great 4^th, everyone!

Paul