Drought concerns may be cutting some bushels off the harvest in Brazil. Matthew Bennett, co-founder of AgMarket.net, says the heat and dryness are cutting into Brazil’s corn crop.
“The Brazilian corn crop looks like it’s likely to get downgraded a little bit. I mean, they can still get some rainfall. I believe the next 20 to 30 days are super important for them, but then, you’re going to start getting into the dry season before too long. So, you’ve got to hope, if you’re a Safrinha crop producer, that you’re going to get some rain here very quickly because some of those areas have just had a lot of heat and dryness over the last month, and so, it’s concerning.”
Brazil isn’t the only country with harvest concerns.
“They don’t raise near as much corn as we do, but they export a ton of corn out of Brazil, and so, if they would end up having this crop affected, it’s going to put even more pressure on the U.S. There are a lot of other areas in the world that are still talking about concerns. I mean, you’ve got to hope, I guess, if you’re someone that wants a lot of wheat available in the world, that Russia’s weather is going to improve. I mean, they didn’t go into dormancy in very good shape as far as their winter wheat crop went, and then they had some pretty harsh winter conditions without snow cover. So, there are a lot of question marks as far as their crops are concerned, as well.”
There are a lot of factors to watch in the world markets.
“No doubt that there are things to talk about anyway. I mean, clearly, we’ve got a lot of political implications and, you know, trade war-type stuff that I think is keeping a lid on prices a little bit, but at the same time, supply and demand balance sheets typically rule the day if I’m a grain originator somewhere in the world, and I’m worried about world supplies. I’m going to be buying, and I think that that’s something that we’re going to have to watch out for.”