While rain has sidelined planters throughout the Midwest, farmers are not using the time to sell corn and soybeans, grain dealers said this week.

A lot of old-crop corn and soybeans plus moderate amounts of new-crop supplies were sold in recent weeks prior to planting and farmers are now content to see where the markets go before selling more.

Some higher basis bids in the past week failed to prompt selling. In central Illinois, the corn basis bids rose about 2 cents in a week and soybeans about 5 cents.

Barge rates were lower for the second week throughout the river markets. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

It may be late this week or longer before planters return to the fields as forecasts call for frequent showers through Wednesday. Those forecasts include severe storms and flash flooding in parts of southern Iowa, northern Missouri and western Illinois.

While farmers are not worried yet about planting delays, some dealers said another week of rain would prompt some  concerns. Prior to the rain arriving late on Sunday, planting was active in the western Midwest, with some areas reporting 80% to 90% of the corn planted. The pace was slower in Indiana and Ohio, where rain and cold weather slowed progress.

USDA weekly crop progress on Monday showed 64% of the nation’s corn was planted and 23% of the soybeans. Both of those numbers are ahead of the five-year averages. The report said Iowa was 80% done on corn, Illinois 78%, Indiana 38% and Ohio 30%.

Corn and soybean barges destined for Gulf export points are being loaded this week on the mid-Mississippi as the river continues to offer the best bids compared with local processors. Bids at the Gulf were fairly steady for corn but slipped a little for soybeans, river dealers said.

More than 885,648 metric tons of grain were shipped by barge during the week ended April 30, up 11% from the prior week and up 4% from a year ago, USDA’s Grain Transportation Report said.

Barge rates were lower for the second week throughout the river markets, with rates on the upper-Mississippi down 15 percentage points, on the mid-Mississippi down 15, near St. Louis down 5 and on the lower Illinois down 5. The rates are also down from a year ago at all reported locations.

For truckers, the U.S. average diesel fuel price increased nearly 7 cents to $2.266 a gallon in the week ended May 2, but that is down nearly 59 cents from the same week last year.

USDA’s weekly export inspections on Monday had corn shipments at 45 million bushels, down slightly from 45.6 million a week ago but ahead of the 38.4 million pace needed to meet USDA’s annual forecast. Japan, Mexico and Colombia were the leading destinations.

Soybean shipments of 4.1 million bushels were down from the prior week and under the pace needed to meet USDA’s annual forecast. Indonesia, Japan and Mexico were the leading destinations.

Wheat shipments of 18.3 million bushels were up from a week ago but less than the 201 million needed to meet USDA’s annual forecast. The Philippines, Nigeria and Yemen were the leading destinations.

Weekly Grain Movement - May 3, 2016 - River market remains competitive; expanded Panama Canal to open June 26

Weekly Grain Movement - April 26, 2016 - Farmers sell in up market, stop selling in down market