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Markets react to turbulent weather

Grain and soybean markets are higher today, mainly in reaction to the weekend’s turbulent weather across much of the central U.S.

But Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities, says the initial reaction in corn and soybeans was somewhat muted because the areas most impacted by the heavy rains, in Missouri and southern Illinois, are not considered “major” production areas.

“It is our first little weather scare of the year and we expect we’re going to have more of these as we go through the year,” Roose says. “We also have huge supplies here so the real question mark is, when do the funds quit covering and how much producer selling runs into from a resistance standpoint. Because you have big supplies in the U.S., over top, that’s a buffer here.”

Roose says cooler temperatures across the Corn Belt, which could cause emergence problems, may have more market impact than the flooding.

On wheat, analysts says freezing temperatures over a wide swath of the High Plains winter wheat belt, plus heavy snow in some of those areas, could have a long-term impact on wheat production and supplies.

AUDIO: Don Roose