Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were steady to narrowly mixed around the US Midwest on Friday as futures soared, spurring light farmer sales of each commodity, dealers said. Trading of both crops was relatively thin even as corn futures rose by the daily 40-cent price limit and soyabean futures climbed to a six-month high.
Many growers are bullish and held out for further gains while commercial sellers and grain buyers largely remained on the sidelines amid the sharply higher prices at the Chicago Board of Trade. Soya bids faded by 5 cents at a processor in Sioux City, Iowa, and by 2 cents on the Illinois River, while corn bids were firm on the Illinois River. The basis was mostly flat elsewhere with the cash market quieter than some merchants expected given the activity in the futures market.
Many farmers are likely to take to the fields early next week to get a jump on corn plantings amid forecasts for mostly warm weather in the next week. Barge freight was steady to weak on Midwest rivers. US grain prices staged their biggest rally this year, fuelled by reports of low corn stockpiles and a shocking decline in farmers' soyabean and wheat acreage this spring.
US farmers will plant the most corn in 75 years to cash in on higher prices, topping expectations due to surprise reductions in soyabean and spring wheat sowings, according to a US government report on Friday. The dramatic expansion raised hopes that the next harvest would ease razor-tight supplies that have kept corn prices near historic highs.
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