Tuesday, December 31, 2024, 7:15 a.m.

Happy New Year!

Our office and the markets are closed tomorrow for the holiday.

Monday was a mixed day for our markets.  Spot corn closed down 1 3/4, spot soybeans closed up 2, spot winter wheat closed up 1 3/4 and spot spring wheat closed down 1 1/2.  In the overnight trade all of our markets are currently on the positive side.  Oil closed up $0.39 yesterday at $70.99 per barrel.  It is stronger in trading again this morning with it now valued at $71.59 per barrel.  Our dollar had a low of $0.693 US before noon yesterday and a high late in the day of $0.697 US.  It has eased back in the overnight trade with it currently valued this morning at $0.695 US.

The soybean market rallied yesterday morning being up 13 cents before pulling back.  A morning announcement of a soybean oil sale to India of 23,000 tonnes in 2024/25 helped to support the market.  As the trading day advanced prices started to fall back and went into the negative before rallying back to the positive side before the close.  Volatility seemed to be the name of the game yesterday.  With a swing of almost 20 cents in the market the time you pull the trigger on a sale makes a big difference.  Once again this is a great example on how target prices help to take some of that gamble out of pricing.  Even more important they take some of the emotional turmoil out of when to pull the trigger.

Corn prices also had a rocky road yesterday but they did end their recent positive streak.  Currently it is looking like $4.50 per bushel on the CBOT is a support level whereas just recently the same level was seen as top end resistance.

Reports out of Argentina are that their projected corn acres are increasing this year from 15.6 million acres up to 16.3 million acres for this year.  Conversely soybean acres are decreasing from 46.0 million acres down to 45.5 million acres.  They started out this year with the higher soybean acres projections as it was seen as a more profitable crop for most farmers in Argentina.  They also report that as of last Friday 85% of their soybeans are planted and 81% of the corn acres are also planted.

If you would like to talk about the markets or price some of your crop for the future or in store, please reach out to us via phone or email to info@northgowergrains.com. Prices quoted herein are for product at our elevator.