Farmer selling of corn and soybeans came to a halt on Friday and remained quiet on Monday as the markets digested last week’s move by Britain to leave the European Union.

Selling of new-crop corn and soybeans was modest most of last week and ahead of Friday, when the vote results were announced.

Corn planted in mid-April will be pollinating this week from Iowa to Indiana and grain merchants said the expected cooler weather this week should help.

“We are going to see tassels this week. It should be 70 to 80 degrees the next five to eight days, that is going to be perfect,” said a central Illinois grain dealer.

Corn is being shipped this week by rail to the Southeast poultry markets and by barge to Gulf export points. (Photo: gyn9038/Thinkstock)

In Iowa, dealers from west to east said it may be next week before tassels come out.

Rain is needed for corn and soybeans in much of southern Iowa and west-central Illinois. The rain that moved through last week largely missed those areas. Forecasts show most of the Midwest to be dry the next few days, with light showers possible on Wednesday for western Iowa.

A USDA report said soil moisture is low in southeast Iowa, northwest Missouri and west central Illinois.

Grain Shipments

Corn is being shipped this week by rail to the Southeast poultry markets and by barge to Gulf export points.

“The Southeast poultry market has come back into play for corn,” said the Illinois dealer. “Also, local ethanol plants are trying to get coverage for August.”

A shipper in the Quad Cities said he continues to load about 2 barges a day, mostly corn, for Gulf export points. Shipping that corn is costing more as greater demand has increased barge rates.

“As of June 21, St. Louis to New Orleans grain barge rates were 300% of tariff ($11.97 per ton), a 40% increase compared to last week, and 18% above the 5-year average,” USDA’s weekly transportation report said. “Rates at other major barge origins had 25% to 51% weekly increases and were 10% to 27% above the three- year average.”

The USDA report said 889,450 tons of grain were shipped by barge during the week ended June 18, down 2% from the prior week and up 31% from a year ago. Year-to-date shipments are up 7% from 2015.

For truckers, the U.S. average diesel fuel price was unchanged from the previous week at $2.43 a gallon. That is down 43 cents from the same week last year.

Weekly Grain Movement - June 21, 2016 - River markets heat up; shippers hunt for barges

Weekly Grain Movement - June 13, 2016 - Farmers sell as markets move higher

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