PAGE 16
THE LAND — FEBRUARY 4/FEBRUARY 11, 2022
www.thelandonline.com — “Where Farm and Family Meet”
MARKETING
Grain Outlook Corn market watching Russia
Editor’s Note: Joe Lardy, CHS Hedging research analyst, is sitting in this week for Phyllis Nystrom, the regular “Grain Outlook” columnist. The following marketing analysis is for the week ending Jan. 28. Corn — It was a volatile week in the corn market, although a positive one. March corn closed at $6.36.25, up 20 cents on the week. March corn is very close to the contract high of $6.40.5. On an interesting technical note, Jan. 25’s price action formed a perfect gravestone doji. This is a bearish pattern that suggests a reversal followed by a downtrend in prices. These are usually pretty strong patterns, but the market steamrolled this — going above Jan. 25’s high. Trading volumes have been very good the entire JOE LARDY month of January, but Jan. 25’s CHS Hedging Inc. activity was almost twice as much St. Paul as we’ve been seeing on a daily basis. The corn market started out the week with some outstanding inspection numbers. This was a marketing year high at over 56.5 million bushels. Inspections have been consistently running above the five-year average.
Cash Grain Markets corn/change* Stewartville Edgerton Jackson Hope Cannon Falls Sleepy Eye Average:
$5.97 $6.20 $6.21 $6.05 $6.08 $6.20
+.22 +.32 +.27 +.32 +.30 +.31
soybeans/change* $14.79 $14.54 $14.21 $14.60 $14.98 $14.63
+1.52 +1.53 +1.24 +1.72 +1.60 +1.48
$6.12
$12.63
Year Ago Average: $5.04
$12.92
Grain prices are effective cash close on Feb. 1. *Cash grain price change represents a two-week period.
Ethanol production dropped off and still in line with pre-Covid levels. Jan. 24 also brought us a flash sales announcement of 150,000 tons of corn to unknown. This week’s export sales were very solid at just over 55 million bushels. This is the third-best total of the marketing year. The tensions between Russia and Ukraine has also been a supportive factor for the corn market. The Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest corn exporter, so a military conflict could have serious implications on the world corn trade. The market is making sure there is enough risk premium for that. IHS Markit updated their planting estimates. They have corn acreage at 91.489 million which is down 89,000 acres from last month. Outlook: The Russia/Ukraine tension will continue to provide direction to the market. The stock market has also been very volatile and if we continue to see inflationary talks, money could very well contin-
ue to flow in the commodity space. SOYBEANS — March soybeans had a very solid week rising 56 cents to close at $14.70. This is a new contract high, and the current price level is well above all of the moving averages. Soybean inspections were ok at 58.5 million bushels. This total is just a little bit above the five-year average, but well below last year. China continues to be the main destination. There were flash sale announcements on Jan. 24 and Jan. 28. The Jan. 28 sales were large and not picked up in this week’s export sales data. Speaking of that, this week’s sales total was the very good with the best total of the past six weeks. China accounted for half of the old crop sales total. The soybean market has been supported by production losses in South America. Rains in the driest areas of Argentina have materialized and there is more rain in the forecast. Brazil is also picking up precipitation, but there is now a growing concern about too much rain during harvest. Many analysts are also believing the production losses are built in and non-reversible and have the Brazilian crop moving towards 130 million tons. I don’t believe it’s that low, and also think these rains can claw back a small amount of production increases. IHS Markit updated their planting estimates. They have soybean acreage at 87.805 million which is down 1 million acres from last month. Outlook: Getting a good read on the South American weather situation is going to be a critical price driver. As harvest picks up, yield reports will be closely watched. There was also some unplanned downtime at two large crush facilities; so let’s see if they get back up and running next week in a timely fashion. v
Information in the above columns is the writer’s opinion. It is no way guaranteed and should not be interpreted as buy/sell advice. Futures trading always involves a certain degree of risk.
University of Minnesota video details butchering process SWINE & U, from pg. 15 Proper labeling and storage of the meat product is important. Prepare to have adequate space to store the meat product at a safe temperature. The health condition of the individuals doing the butchering is important to food safety too. A person coughing and sneezing while butchering could result in microbiological contamination of food, food packaging materials, and food contact surfaces. Exclusion of pests from the food. If butchering outdoors, pests such as flies, ants or birds can spread bacteria and other contaminants to the meat. Proper handling of the pig The condition in which a pig is handled prior to
butchering impacts its well-being. In addition, research has shown that poor or improper handling can cause adverse effects on the quality of the pork from that pig. A stressed and agitated pig will also be much more difficult to handle. When handling a pig, it is recommended to have sorting panels or solid plywood to help guide the pig in the direction you want it to go. The sorting board can be used to restrain a pig’s movement, for example, to restrain the pig along a gate or side of a pen for stunning. When doing this, it is important to use sturdy gating and ensure that the pig has good footing to minimize chance of the pig slipping. If a firearm is used to stun the pig, plan and think about human safety in terms of the surrounding area and flooring the pig is on to minimize the chance of the bullet ricocheting off objects
if the pig is missed or the bullet goes through the pig. Although this article has covered many details of human safety, pig welfare and food safety, the video, “How to butcher a pig for home use,” created by the University of Minnesota Extension Swine Team, explains these points and more. It also shows the butchering process from bleed-out through the cutting of the carcass into primal cuts. Check it out if you plan to butcher a pig (https://z. umn.edu/HowToButcherPigVideo). Sarah Schieck Boelke is a University of Minnesota Extension Educator based in the U of M Extension office in Willmar, Minn. Sarah can be reached by telephone at (320) 235-0726 ext. 2004, or by email at schi0466@umn.edu. v
