Corn futures jumped after USDA trimmed quality ratings

On August 24, the price of corn futures rose after the USDA trimmed the crop’s quality ratings alongside a rain forecast this week.

At the time of writing, the US maize contracts for September delivery are trading higher by 1.34% to $669.12 per metric ton.

The European Union has reduced its projection for this year’s corn yield while the US Department of Agriculture downgraded its assessment of production in the country.

Also, the department trimmed the quantity ratings of the crop by two points in its latest progress report.

This action led to ample technical buying that lifted corn’s price, hitting the highest level in approximately two months.

On Tuesday, maize basis bids were mostly steady across the central United States but it tilted by $0.15 higher at an Illinois processor on Wednesday.

As of August 21, the USDA reported that 55.00% of this season’s corn was rated good-to-excellent condition, falling another two points from the previous week. Another 27.00% was rated fair and the remaining 18.00% were rated poor or very poor.

Physiologically, around 97.00% of the crop is now silking, up from the 94.00% record last week. Besides, all maturity stages are tracking a bit behind the previous five-year average.

Rainy Weather Ahead

Meanwhile, some rains are coming back to parts of the Northern Plains and upper Midwest from Wednesday to Saturday this week.

On the other hand, some areas further south would stay relatively dry during the said period.

This weather forecast is according to the latest 72-hours cumulative precipitation map of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In addition, its new eight to 14 day outlook predicts seasonally dry weather for much of the Corn Belt between August 30 and September 05. It is also more likely that the region would experience near-normal temperatures with the same time frame.