Grains close higher ahead of holiday

NORMAL – Grains closed higher for the week and now many are waiting to see how the markets respond to the weather during the rest of the growing season.

“Early in the week, we were up due to us talking to China and China saying we’ll agree to buy a bunch of stuff from you,” said Pete Manhart of Bates Commodities in Normal.

There aren’t many details, although that includes soybeans, ethanol and corn. Weather concerns later in the week helped to hold prices higher too. Manhart expects trade issues and the weather to continue influencing the markets.

“If we have rains forecast next week when we come back in, we will see stuff go back down. If it continues hot and dry for the next 10 days, that will help hold it up.”

Wheat was strong in the past week due to our poor crop and worries about the rest of the world’s wheat. Soybeans closed the week up 40 cents and corn was up slightly. Manhart recommends either buying puts or selling some cash and replacing that cash with calls.

Bates Commodities can be reached at 800-779-1515.