On the Grains: Yesterday’s market action was mixed and “indecisive” for the most part. Weekly export inspections came in near the low end of the range of expectations for corn and wheat but near the high end for beans. Yet oddly, corn and wheat managed to close in the green while beans closed in the red. The reason for indecisiveness is that traders were waiting for the holiday-delayed crop condition ratings to come out. Well, they came out price-friendly, particularly for beans. That’s evident in overnight gains in grains with soybeans leading the pack. The portion of the crop rated good-to-excellent (G/E) dropped 5% vs. expectations for only a 3-point drop. At 53%, that’s 4 points below last year. Of the top 18 soybean states, 12 showed declines, 3 were unchanged and only 3 showed improvement. KS ratings dropped the most, losing 12 points for the week – but followed closely by Illinois with a 10-point drop in bean ratings for that state. Adding to the surprising degree of deterioration for beans, the portion of the crop rated poor to very poor (P/VP) increased 3 points to 17% last week. That’s 3 points worse than last year at this time….
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