Grains-Corn Jumps to One-Week High; Soybeans Extend Gains for Fourth Day

Aug 22, 2023

By Naveen Thukral

Chicago corn rose more than 2% on Monday to its highest in one week, while soybeans climbed to their highest level since late-July as concerns over hot and dry weather conditions in the U.S. Midwest buoyed the markets.

Wheat advanced for a second session, supported by escalating tensions in the Black Sea region that are likely to further reduce world supply.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Cv1 was up 2.3% at $5.04-1/4 a bushel, as of 0014 GMT, after climbing earlier in the session to its highest since Aug. 11 at $5.06 a bushel.

* Soybeans Sv1 climbed 1.7% to $13.75-3/4 a bushel, having risen to $13.78 a bushel – their highest since July 28. Wheat Wv1 added 0.8% to $6.45 a bushel, after jumping to $6.46 a bushel, the highest since Aug. 9.

* Weather forecasts are showing little rain and hotter temperatures for the rest of August in the U.S. Midwest, raising worries over crop yields. Soybeans are more vulnerable to potential damage because August is the crop’s critical month for development.

* This week, the market will assess findings of the annual Pro Farmer crop tour, which will examine corn and soybean fields across the Midwest.

* Russia said Ukrainian drones had attacked four separate regions in a flurry of attempted strikes on Sunday, injuring five people and forcing two of Moscow’s airports to briefly divert flights.

* Grain traders have been nervous amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine which could disrupt Black Sea crop shipments since Moscow quit the U.N.-backed export deal for Ukraine in July. Both countries are major grain exporters.

* In news, China’s soybean imports from the United States tumbled 62% in July from a year earlier while shipments from Brazil, its top supplier, surged 32%, data showed on Sunday, spurred by a bumper crop and lower prices in the Latin American country.

* India is set for its driest August in more than a century, with scant rainfall likely to persist across large areas, partly because of the El Niño weather pattern, two weather department officials told Reuters on Friday.

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Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.