David Fuller's view I heard from our knowledgeable subscriber in Chicago that the North American crop situation remains dire. Drought in Texas, cold wet weather in much of the corn belt, extensive flooding of farmland along the Mississippi as US Army engineers open floodgates to protect Baton Rough and New Orleans, plus cold and very wet weather in Canada.

Fullermoney has been covering these stories and you may have seen some of the flooding on news channels. This is an exceptionally poor start to the Northern Hemisphere and Chinese crop season and these problems are being reflected by grain and bean prices once again.


I am told that some of the worst affected US farmland may be declared a disaster. If so, farmers are entitled to Disaster Payment from the government of $550 an acre for leaving their land idle.

Here is a quick technical update on some of the grain and bean charts:

Corn (weekly & daily) is recovering more rapidly than it fell recently, suggesting that an important low was reached at $6.59 five days ago. A close beneath this level would be required to offset current scope for at least a test of prior resistance in the $8 region.

Soybeans (weekly & daily) remain rangebound but following today's upward dynamic a close beneath $13 would be required to offset scope for at least a test of prior resistance above $14.

Rough rice (weekly & daily) has encountered good support in the lower-middle side of its broad trading band and a close beneath $13.65 would now be required to offset current scope for a test of the upper boundaries since last October.

Wheat (weekly & daily) has been in an even longer range but has also encountered good support in the lower-middle region of this pattern. Consequently, a close beneath $7.20 would now be necessary to offset scope for a test of the upper boundary.

(See also Eoin's comments on 16th May.)