Thursday, August 21, 2008

Wheat Climbs to Eight-week High On Weak Dollar, Surge in Crude Oil

Wheat enjoyed a comeback on Thursday, as it reached an eight-week high, as crude oil helped lift it up, along with a weakening U.S. dollar. Corn and soybean increases also helped push the commodity upwards.

On the CBOT, December wheat ended the session up 22 3/4 cents at $9.22 1/4 a bushel. December wheat at the Kansas City Board of Trade finished at 23 1/2 cents higher at $9.50 3/4, while December wheat at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange ended the session at $9.82 1/4, a 27 1/4 cent increase.

U.S. wheat export demand should remain strong, as weekly export sales for 2008-09 for the U.S. is at a marketing year high of 916,500 tons. The average of 522 million bushels of export wheat sales is about 10 percent above the five-year average. Wheat shipments are running at about 37 percent higher than the five-year average.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Wheat Growers Facing Tough Cost-Control Challenges in 2009

The end of the huge profits for wheat producers may come to an end next year as skyrocketing prices of inputs, in the face of flattening prices, will challenge producers to manage their costs more efficiently than ever.

Prices of almost everything have increased significantly, including fuel, fertilizer, machinery, labor, crop insurance and seed. A number of these inputs have surged by almost 20 percent over the last year. If producers want to add land to the mix, prices have also increased by 19 percent over the last 12 months as well.

As of 2004, breakeven for wheat was around $4 a bushel, in 2009 it's projected to reach over $6.85 a bushel.

Who would have thought that the idea of $7.00 wheat would have profitability challenges, but in 2009 that's a distinct possibility and probability.

How and when producers buy and at what discount may be the difference between profits and losses next year.

Go here for costs and revenue of irrigated and dryland winter wheat over the last ten years, included the projections for 2009.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

CBOT September Wheat Drops 14 1/4 cents to $7.65 3/4 a Bushel

Even though wheat partook in the plunge in prices of crop cousins soybeans and corn, it still held up pretty good taking all factors into consideration.

September wheat on the CBOT dropped by 14 1/4 cents to $7.65 3/4 a bushel, while Kansas City Board of Trade September wheat dropped 10 1/2 cents to $7.96, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange September wheat rose 1/2 cent to $8.53 3/4.

There were about 3,000 wheat contracts that sold on the CBOT today.

"I think, technically, it's acting fairly well," Alan Brugler, president of Brugler Marketing & Management, said of wheat. "I would attribute most of the selling to fund-type liquidation."

As far as their companion crops, November soybeans fell 47 cents to $12.22, while December corn declined 17 1/4 cents to $5.27 3/4.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Kansas City Board Of Trade Wheat Volume Third Largest In July

The Kansas City Board of Trade trading volume for the month of July ended at 300,025 contracts in the hard red winter wheat futures contract, which makes it the third-largest trading volume for the month of July, although far behind 407,032 contracts in 2007 and 377,494 contracts in 2006.

Price volatility continues, as during the month of July, the nearby contract traded in a range of 98 cents, as low as $8.07 and as high as $9.05. During that same period of time in 2007, the price range was 83 1/2 cents, with lows reaching $5.73 and highs $6.56 1/2. On Monday, the USDA projected the hard red winter wheat harvest was 79 percent complete. KCBT floor traders think it's a little further along, estimating HRW wheat harvest at 80 to 85 percent complete.