Outside markets, lower crude values, a good US weather map and a stronger USD all had grain futures struggling to stay in the black. Soybeans were hit worse, the lower oil values didn’t help but the main killer there was the better weather outlook. Both the US corn crop and the US soybean crop have had a dream season and it doesn’t look like changing just yet.

The punters will be disappointed when they don’t see the 1% drop in US corn condition they were expecting to see too. The USDA weekly crop condition report came out after the close showing corn still at 76% Good / Excellent. To add a little fuel to the soybean selloff the USDA have also raised the Good to Excellent rating for soybeans from 71% G/E to 72% G/E, so don’t expect a rally on the night session either. The spring wheat crop rating remained unchanged at 68% G/E. The US durum crop is rated at 87% G/E according to the North Dakota Wheat Commission, that’s a huge rating and confirms why the spring wheat crop tour pegged ND durum yields at record highs.

The sharp selloff in US soybean futures was reflected in Paris rapeseed which saw significant losses across the board. ICE canola futures were untraded due to a holiday in Canada. All this on the back of the EU expecting to increase imports by 400kt to 3.3mt.