Grain Prices Plunge

reply to post by loam

I see some speculators are saying a drop Chinese demand is causing the drop in soy prices too.

This reporter presumes speculators jumped the grain ship too:

Oil spike pops corn's bubble CNN

A big oil spike is taking the starch out of corn.

Agricultural commodities such as corn, wheat and soybeans plunged Tuesday as a surge in oil prices sent traders scurrying for the safety of precious metals and government bonds.

It is definitely market manipulation. "Pump and Dump" is correct. Speculators will ride the price of commodities up and then once it plateau's they will short the price down making even more money. Speculators IMO are the root cause of the Global financial crisis. It's like betting on the "Point spread" of a sporting event. They don't really care if people starve because they jacked up the price of commodities to make money. It's the root of all evil and should be shut down!

This looks nice and orderly:



Link

I have to wonder if the looming federal government shutdown plays a role here. If the government shuts down, subsidies will not be paid to the farmers, meaning competition will flourish and the price floor will effectively go away. The farms will be forced to sell higher volumes to make up for the lower income per unit for as long as the government is not cutting subsidy checks. Hell, this flows beyond subsidies as I suspect the government will spend some amount of time also not buying crops for their various food stockpiling & aid programs, effectively releasing that quantity of produce out into the competitive market rather than keeping it locked into whatever agreed upon sale price it would be at with the government buying programs in effect. I believe the government is the largest single purchaser of grains.

reply to post by burdman30ott6

Does seem to be all coming together. Good insight on your part.



Looks like beef prices are falling too.

US CATTLE: Prices Fall With Grains On Economic Fears Wall Street Journal

Further insight on the reasoning for the sell off.

Grain futures off sharply UPI

Corn futures dropped with fund traders selling in high volumes as U.S. Department of Agriculture raised the estimate of acreage to be planted for 2011. Wheat prices fell on concerns that escalating violence in Libya could spread to other countries and slow the economic recovery. A downturn in Chinese equities and continued beneficial weather in South America weighed on soybean prices Tuesday.

I use to grain my cattle with corn but the price of corn went so high i had to stop doing that i couldn't afford it so now there on just good alfalfa mixed hay ..alot of the farmers had to sell there cattle around me for this reason ..One min the price of cattle is up then i check the paper and my cattle aren't worth even having to feed..I grow all my own hay..I put a big garden in every year and do alot of canning and dehydrating..but the government is running us small farmers out of business and i believe this is what they want there greedy..

reply to post by sugarcookie1


Yes, it seems there is no room between hobby farm and corporate farm. It's sad to see the family farms die out, because I know from experience the family farm brings a better product to market, because they care more about the land and their way of life. Whereas, a corporate farm uses seasonal day labor that is mainly there for just a paycheck.

reply to post by Regenmacher


I know and its sad i see family owned farms just go under and lots of them around me were almost all farmers i have about 120 cows (beef cattle) but most around me are into milk cows they cant afford to feed them so most are shut down..Then they sent there cows to the stock yards for sale and got hardly anything for them..I cant express enough to people to buy local don't let the government eat us small farmers up its how we make a living

If you have money to invest, might be something to look at here. No way the price will stay down. Too much pressure on the supply for it to stay there. The amount of grains in the shipment supply line is at an all time high. The natural disasters that have occurred in the Southern hemisphere won't allow the usual shipments from there. But what do I know?

reply to post by Montana


You might want to wait till the U.S.D.A's crop acreage report comes out later this week, before going gungho on grain futures.


USDA Reports

I wouldn't advise anyone to go too far in betting on futures at any time. Too many variables for my blood. However unless someone finds millions of tons of wheat piled somewhere, there's going to be some shortages. Not in the US, the major wheat producing areas haven't suffered any calamities yet. There's ALOT of grains heading out of the country right now, and I don't see it slowing down any. Lack of supply, lots of demand equals price hikes. At least that's how I think it goes?

I just came across this thread, www.abovetopsecret.com... , something about soy and corn crop containing a micro fungus which may make people, animals and plants ill. The OP alluded to the fact that it may be caused by Monsanto's Roundup. Maybe they are anticipating being unable to plant supercrops and are buying up whats left. From what I understand of Roundup if you try to plant regular seed on the land where it has been used you get poor crops. It might be far out there, but it was the first thing I thought of when I read it. I'm gonna link this thread in their thread. Get everyone thinking on this.

you guys, didn't you read my post in the markets thread.....? it's the february 4-8th reversal....happens every year for different reasons....japans fiscal year end approaching was my old reasoning, but this year it's more catastrophic....GM seeds are white catholic devils doing