Whats going on with soybean basis?
The price basis for soybeans is doing a significant part of the rationing job on soybean crushing this summer “We have a short supply of beans. Crushing must be reduced to stretch that supply, so we don’t not run out of beans,” he explains. Figures on U.S. crush, provided by the National Oil Seed Processors Association this past week, showed a 16% drop in crushings in Iowa compared to a year ago. The drop is 18% in Illinois and in the south central U.S. it’s down 67%. So, in some areas of the U.S., we’re getting a sharp cutback in the crushing of soybeans this summer. Crush has actually increased in Minnesota, however, due to the opening of a new soybean processing facility there. That Minnesota plant’s robust bidding for beans is contributing to a strong northwest Iowa cash basis on beans. It’s been above a dollar per bushel at times in recent days in areas of northwest Iowa. Bean price basis is unusually strong “This basis situation is unusual,” says Wisner. “If we’ve had it before,
