Demand for corn and soybeans is strong at Midwest processors, who are offering the best bids to farmers who can deliver supplies this week, grain dealers said.

In eastern Iowa, processor bids are about 26 cents better for corn than the river markets and about 40 cents better for soybeans.

Also, one eastern Iowa dealer said the first load of new-crop soybeans was delivered this week and new-crop corn should arrive as harvest started there this week.

In central Illinois, local processors also had the better bids for corn, but bids have firmed to ship it by rail to southeast ethanol and poultry markets, dealers said. For soybeans, local processors had the best bids.

River shippers said there have been plenty of empty barges as the harvest shipping season gets under away and barge rates have trended steady or lower. (Photo: joe raedle/Getty)

Corn harvest was under way in central Illinois and should expand by next week. The soybean harvest was about two weeks away, according to one grain dealer. Also, some of the corn had the fungus diplodia. Most of readings were below the allowable 5% contamination limit, but a few loads had 18% to 19%.

USDA said the national corn harvest as of Sunday was 5% done with Illinois at 3% and Iowa’s at 1%. USDA will add soybean harvest readings to its next weekly crop progress report.

In the export markets, cash bids tend to weaken near harvest. Corn was bid about 44 cents over December for September shipment, compared with 54 a week ago, and was bid 52 over for October shipment compared with 59.5 a week ago.

Soybeans bids rose this past week for September shipment to about 94 over November, but dropped for October shipment to 80 over November from about 82 a week ago.

River shippers said there have been plenty of empty barges as the harvest shipping season gets under away and barge rates have trended steady or lower. Typically barge rates increase at harvest time. USDA last week also reported stability in barge rates.

“Typically, at this time of year, there is an increase in barge demand for newly harvested corn in the southern states, which can draw barges to the southern portions of the Mississippi River and may reduce the barge supply in other portions of the river system. However, as of Sept. 6, barge rates at principle origins have not seen rate increases, and are below the 5-year average for early September,” USDA said.

USDA’s weekly grain inspections for corn of nearly 53 million bushels were down from a week ago but matched trade forecasts, soybeans at nearly 35 million were down and missed forecasts, while wheat shipments of 26.5 million were up from ago and better than expected.

Shipments

USDA said barge grain shipments during the weekend Sept. 3 were 850,748 tons, down 8% from the prior week but up 108% from a year ago.

In the rail sector, grain car loadings totaled 21,727 for the week ended August 27, down 13% from the prior week and up 19% from a year ago, said USDA’s Grain Transportation Report.

For truckers, the U.S. average diesel fuel price was unchanged in the latest week at $2.41 per gallon. That is down 13 cents from the same week last year.

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