A few trainloads of corn were sold in central Illinois last week destined for the Southeast poultry and ethanol markets for June and July arrival; otherwise, crop marketing was fairly quiet in the Midwest.

The corn sales to the Southeast prompted a few Illinois processors to raise bids to get July coverage, while elsewhere bids were about unchanged, dealers said.

Barge loadings on the Mississippi River have returned to normal after high water early this month delayed the upstream movement of empties from the Gulf of Mexico. A Quad Cities shipper handled a large volume of truck delivered corn, which it had bought some time ago.

Farmer selling of corn and soybeans was light last week as prices were not attractive. Farmers focused on spraying. In Illinois, the soft red winter harvest was under way. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said 24% of the Illinois wheat was cut, which was ahead of the five-year average of 11%. Wheat harvest and crop condition ratings will be updated later on Monday.

Rain during the weekend helped Iowa and Illinois crops. However, some parts of central Illinois had 3 in. or more, which left standing water in a number of fields.

Gulf barge loadings decrease

Barge grain loadings during the week ended June 10 totaled 727,954 tons, down 24% from the prior week and down 19% from a year ago, according to USDA’s "Grain Transportation Report."

Grain vessel loadings at the Gulf totaled 32 vessels during the week of June 8, down 14% from a year ago. Fifty-five vessels are expected to be loaded in the next 10 days, up 17% from a year ago, the report said.

In the rail sector, grain car loadings totaled 22,838 for the week ended June 3, down 8% from the prior week and up 22% from a year ago.

For truckers, the U.S. average diesel fuel price decreased 4 cents during the week ended June 12 to $2.52/gal. That is up 9 cents from a year ago.

Corn at the Gulf was bid 32 over July for July shipment versus 29 over a week ago and bid 29 over September for August shipment versus 25.5 a week ago, according to wire reports.  Soybeans were big 36 over July for July shipment versus 41 a week ago and 41 over August for August compared with 45 a week ago.

USDA’s latest weekly grain inspections are detailed in the following table and charts.

Corn export destinations, bushels – week ended June 15 – USDA

Soybean export destinations, bushels – week ended June 15–USDA

Wheat export destinations, bushels – week ended June 15 – USDA