US futures saw weakness in the corn and soybeans pits while outer month wheat enjoyed some upside. The outlook for a smaller global crop helped wheat widen the spread over corn but in a strange twist we also see the HRW contract trading at a discount to SRW on the nearby contract, outer month contracts show a slight premium.
With a big US spring wheat crop expected to be harvested we also see the spread for the top grade narrowing. Currently the spread in the US between HRW and HRSW is 33c/bu about AUD$16.00 / tonne. It’s hard to justify this spread narrowing further but that is what some of the punters are expecting to see. It is difficult to say if this will have an impact on Australian values for Prime Hard as the majority of the APH wheat region in Australia failed to plant.

A quick look around the world weather maps shows continued showers across the US, hence the lower corn prices. There is also some talk of being too wet in parts of the eastern spring wheat belt, wet enough that crops are expected to be abandoned, I’ll believe that when I see it.  The Canadian Prairies is generally looking ok, potentially too much rain in the north across the canola districts and good falls across the spring wheat and durum regions of Saskatchewan but there are a few dry pockets around Regina.
Ukraine is wet in the south with the major farming regions seeing around 50mm for the fortnight. Volga Valley remains fairly dry but south of the Volga there has been some useful falls, spring wheat regions are mixed. EU is mixed but many believe the damage is done now.