A long weekend in the US has resulted in market data being a little thin this morning. A glance at European grain futures shows milling wheat at Paris is slightly firmer across the board. The May 22 slot closing E3.00 higher at E278.75 per tonne. The Dec slot up E2.00 closing at E264.75 per tonne. London feed wheat was a smidge firmer, nearby gaining half a pound while the Jan23 slot put on one pound.

Conditions in France are starting to dry out a little. The central and southern districts seeing just 60% – 80% of normal rainfall for this time of year. The latest crop condition ratings for France don’t indicate there is an issue as yet, with most crops showing a good to excellent rating of 90%+. The dry weather is worth keeping an eye on in both France and Italy though. Could we be lining up for another good durum year ? Spain also remains very dry, as does eastern Romania. Russia is generally looking pretty good.
The USA will probably be the other block to watch in the mid-term. Parts of the hard red winter wheat belt are still to see a decent fall of rain and wind blasting has taken a heavy toll on acres in some counties. Northern Kansas and southern Nebraska and probably to a lesser extent parts of central Iowa are the hot spots at present.

The unravelling of the Canadian political system is probably worth watching too. Much of western Canada had supported the truckers protest in Ottawa. If the government starts seizing grain producers bank accounts all hell could break loose. The abandonment of democracy to some extent may also create some counterparty resistance when selling. China must be watching in admiration though.