News

We would like to inform you of the board’s recent decision regarding the future of the Lakefield grain elevator. Several factors have led up to this after operating the grain elevator on a seasonal basis for the past two years.

Grains continue to try and catch their footing as ethanol demand continues to erode and a bearish March planting intentions report.  The USDA shocked the corn market by printing a 96.99 million acre estimate for the 20/21 crop. This was 2.66 million acres above the average trade estimate and 7.29 million above last year. Kyle Leary - Grain Marketer

The corn market has been taking the brunt of the beating the last month. OPEC and Russia are in an oil price war and thus have flooded the oil market with supply. In turn, we have seen crude oil drop from over $60 per barrel in January to near $20 per barrel in the last couple weeks. Good news if you are in the market to lock up your fuel needs, but bad news for the ethanol market. Megan Tusa - Grain Marketer

Last weekend an incident occurred at our Grain Elevator and Feed Mill in Janesville. Sometime between the close of business on Friday evening and late Saturday morning, the facility experienced an electrical failure, which resulted in an arc flash in the motor control center (MCC) room

Crystal Valley’s Grain Division has made a few changes to our policies to better serve our customers and to open more opportunities. Kyle Leary - Grain Marketer

With the highly anticipated USDA report coming out last Monday, I think it is safe to say that it shocked most people with the outcome. Corn prices plummeted after the USDA report forecasted higher corn plantings and planted acres. Chris Whitehead - Grain Marketer

The only thing normal about this marketing year has been the seasonal selloff we have seen in the past three weeks.  The bulls are hoping that will come to an end with the release of the August 12th, monthly WASDE report.  Kyle Leary - Grain Marketer

After the stressful and wet spring, the market has priced in some risk premium as the USDA and others figure out exactly what this crop is going to look like. Crop conditions have been worse compared to last year and the 5-year average in both corn and beans. The attached graph shows how funds have completely reversed their position due to weather complications and has also assisted in the recent rally. TJ Fulton - Grain Marketer