US corn price has increased this week – moving from 324.50c/bu last Thursday (August 20) to 331.75c/bu last night (August 24).

The price hike comes off the back of the trade talks between the US and China and a decrease in crop condition scores.

As of August 23, 64% of corn in the US was estimated to be in good to excellent condition by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – down from 69% the week previous.

24% of the crop is now estimated to be in fair condition, up from 21% last week, while 12% of the crop is reported to be in poor or very poor condition.

In the same report, 5% of the corn was reported to be mature; while 88% was reported to be at the dough stage.

The Pro Farmer Crop Tour last week placed the US corn and soybean yield estimates below the US government’s forecasts – placing the corn crop at 14.820 billion bushels and the soybean crop at 4.362 billion bushels.

Also Read: Crop tour comes to an end with estimates above last year

Today (August 25) Reuters reported that Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures reached a six week high “buoyed by expectations of higher Chinese demand for US farm products following trade talks between the two countries”.

The report also stated that the “decline in US crop ratings support underpins CBOT futures”.

CBOT corn prices were as follows on Tuesday afternoon (August 25):

  • September 2020 – 331.75c/bu;
  • December 2020 – 345.00c/bu;
  • March 2021 – 375.00c/bu;
  • May 2021 – 364.25c/bu;
  • July 2021 – 369.00c/bu;
  • September 2021 – 370.25c/bu.

Irish prices

An increase in corn prices makes the commodity less competitive and may help to avoid a further drop in grain prices for Irish farmers.

Earlier today (August 25), Glanbia released green grain prices for September 2020 of €159/t for wheat and €138/t for barley.

This is a base price before any bonuses are added in for trading or co-op members. The increase of €2/t – from the price released on August 13 – for both grains is a positive step.

CORN GRAIN USDA