What's Impacting the Market this Week? 

Greetings! The US saw some extreme temps over the weekend. Much of the southern Plains were hit with an early heat wave, with temps at or over 100 F (~38 C). Late in the week, those areas should see some temperature and precipitation relief.

The Midwest started out a bit cooler, but will heat up into the 70s and 80s F (21-27 C) by midweek. With temps on the rise and dry weather expected at least on the front end of the week, the expectation is that planters will be rolling hard this week. 

Monday’s USDA Crop Progress report showed US Corn Planted at 29% complete vs. 19% last week, 11% last year and 42% for the 5-year average, putting planting well below the average.

In the news this week… Escalating violence in Ukraine is stirring fears of an all-out civil war which has increased market wariness. Since Russia and the Ukraine are important suppliers of energy and other commodities such as palladium, nickel, titanium and of course grain, there continues to be concerns about their economic position as well as the impact on neighboring EU countries.  

The spike in sea temperature in the Pacific Ocean and the warm water movements to the East have increased concerns we could see a stronger-than-expected El Niño this year. Meteorologists say they are seeing “lots of characteristics of a strong El Niño” that could trigger floods and drought in different parts of the world.

Also, Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the CME Group Inc. is on the prowl for start-ups and is looking to develop a pipeline of technology trends that could spark new businesses. The idea is to provide mentoring and inject between $500,000 and $5 million in each new venture.

The CME venture fund, Liquidity Ventures I LLC, was conceived last year to take minority stakes in early stage companies. It made its first investment in March in a data encryption service company and a second investment, in British Columbia-based quantum processor software company 1QB Information Technologies Inc., is pending.

Liquidity Ventures seeks companies with technologies that could impact platforms and systems, enhance user experience, or provide new products and services in the financial ecosystem of the future.

The USDA released a Report on the National Stakeholders Conference on Honey Bee Health at the end of 2013 with the following research highlights:

• Consensus is building that a complex set of stressors and pathogens is associated with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
• The parasitic mite Varroa destructor remains the single most detrimental pest of honey bees, and is closely associated with overwintering colony declines.
• Multiple virus species have been associated to CCD.
• Varroa is known to cause amplified levels of viruses.
• The bacterial disease European foulbrood is being detected more often in the US and may be linked to colony loss.
• Nutrition has a major impact on individual bee and colony longevity.
• Research indicates that gut microbes associated with honey bees play key roles in enhancement of nutrition, detoxification of chemicals and protection against diseases.
• Acute and sublethal effects of pesticides on honey bees have been documented. Further research is required to establish the risks associated with pesticide exposure to US honey bee declines.

For more on bee health, read today’s Headline News piece by Terry Daynard, former University of Guelph crop science professor and associate dean. He looks at “What Corn-Canola Comparisons Tell Us about Neonics and Bees – Plenty Actually”. Click here to read more. 

Find me on Twitter @SarahMikesell.

Have a great week!
~Sarah