Corn and soyabean spot basis bids were steady to softer around the US Midwest on Monday amid tight old-crop supplies and scattered sales, dealers said. There are few farmers that have crop supplies remaining in on-farm storage bins so the producers hold out for the best price, a dealer in Ohio said.
There was continued talk of reduced production at ethanol plants in the eastern Midwest, which is also softening demand, a rail broker said. However, no specific downtime could be confirmed. There were scattered rail sales in areas not affected by the Missouri River flooding, a rail broker in Kansas said. The Missouri River continues to threaten operations at processors and elevators in the flood zone as the water level rises.
Grain operations were halted at south-eastern Iowa elevator and portions of the facility were dismantled due to the river flooding, a trader said. Elsewhere, barge freight rates held mostly steady on Midwest Rivers. In its weekly crop report the US Agriculture Department reported corn condition as 70 percent good to excellent compared with 69 percent in the previous week and 75 percent a year ago. Soyabean crop condition was reported as 68 percent good to excellent compared with 67 percent in the previous week and 69 year ago.