A section of the Mississippi is closed overnight.

Grain futures are mixed overnight, with corn and soybeans lower on the closing of a section of the Mississippi, dimming exports along with improved rain chances for Argentina in the coming week. Wheat futures bounced as world values found support from the recent price collapse, as Russia’s export taxes which have not been canceled yet, rise $16/MT today. It’s anticipated that Turkey and Algeria will tender for November shipments along with Egypt, which has not tendered since September and will likely be in the hunt for supplies.

Corn and soybean sales remain lackluster except for some catch up buying of beans last week by China, which is still woefully behind their purchase expectations, as Argentina will ship roughly 2 MMTs of beans to China after their big September currency push, which produced a flood of producer sales. Exports have been disrupted due to the difficulty of getting beans exportable out of the Gulf and Argentina’s recent capture of Chinese sales. The Mississippi River will not likely have its issues resolved with dredging in the next 2-3 weeks. Gulf costs remain elevated and near record highs making US corn and soybeans uncompetitive in the global trade.

The EU and GFS weather models are in better agreement today, with both trending drier across the E Plains and SW Midwest. Limited precept impact regions outside the Northern Plains and Delta over the next two weeks. Moderate showers move across the Dakotas and MM next Monday/Tuesday, with two systems offered over East TX and the Delta region in the 6-10 day period; zero rain is forecasted across the HRW belt. With the drought expanding. This leaves Mississippi River transportation challenged with a lack of flowing moisture.

Live and feeder cattle were sharply higher yesterday, with the firm outlook anticipated this morning. Cash markets in the plains and Western Midwest remain at a standstill, but the outlook remains higher this week, with asking prices $2-3 higher for the week. Box beef values had choice gaining $2.64 yesterday, and select rose $I.67. Cattle prices are now approaching multi-year highs, with only 2014/spring 2015 having seen the contract highs.