A few trains of corn destined for nearby processors will be loaded in coming days, while barge loadings of corn and soybeans on the Mississippi River are back to normal, even as bids for those crops at the Gulf of Mexico ease.

However, slow farmer selling following the recent drop in the Chicago, Ill., corn and soybean markets has discouraged sales to end users because grain merchants do not have the supplies to fill railcars or barges.

“If I sold a train now, it would go the Southeast. I would sell two or three more trains for July if I had ownership,” an Illinois dealer said of the demand for corn.

Local processors and container shippers are the best markets for soybeans this week.

Midwest shippers and grain dealers raised basis bids to farmers 1-4 cents for corn and 1-2 cents for soybeans in the past week, but that failed to induce farmer selling.

In central Illinois, the soft red winter wheat harvest advanced, and dealers reported a healthy crop that was largely free of disease. The corn there was two to three weeks away from pollinating.

Grain merchants from Iowa and Illinois reported a wide range of maturity in corn. Early-planted corn was developing well and could be pollinating in a week, while it may be mid- to late July before later-planted fields reach that stage. The U.S. Department of Agriculture late on Monday said 2% of the corn was silking in Illinois and Indiana, while none had reached that stage in Iowa. The five-year average is 6% for Illinois, 4% for Indiana and 1% for Iowa.

Rain over the weekend and more expected this week should help the crops.

Gulf barge loadings slow

Barge grain loadings during the week ended June 17 totaled 566,747 tons, down 22% from the prior week and down 36% from a year ago, according to USDA’s "Grain Transportation Report."

Grain vessel loadings at the Gulf totaled 36 vessels during the week of June 15, down 5% from a year ago. Fifty-four vessels are expected to be loaded in the next 10 days, up 8% from a year ago, the report said.

In the rail sector, grain car loadings totaled 22,409 for the week ended June 10, down 2% from the prior week and up 10% from a year ago.

For truckers, the U.S. average diesel fuel price decreased nearly 4 cents during the week ended June 19 to $2.49/gal. That is up 6 cents from a year ago.

Corn at the Gulf was bid 31 over July for July shipment versus 32 over a week ago and bid 25 over September for August shipment versus 29 a week ago, according to wire reports. Soybeans were bid 33 over July for July shipment versus 36 a week ago and 40 over August for August shipment, compared with 41.5 a week ago.

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

Corn export destinations, bushels – week ended June 22 – USDA

Soybean export destinations, bushels – week ended June 22–USDA

Wheat export destinations, bushels – week ended June 22 – USDA