Futures continued to keep their bias to the upside this week, with new-crop soybean futures eclipsing $10.50 a bushel. Eastern Corn Belt states finally caught a break with the weather, and boosted their corn plantings. However, acreage numbers still remain a huge wildcard for the coming season and with delayed plantings, yield potential may be hampered a bit.

Over the past month, farmers have benefited as futures prices for new-crop corn and beans have rallied higher as planting has slowed. Corn futures for fall delivery are up 50 cents a bushel in the last month, while November soybean futures have gained $1.50 over the same 30-day window.

In the cash market, corn bids for fall delivery have held firm as well. On average, across 2,600 elevators reporting new-crop bids, the basis levels have firmed about 1.5-cents per bushel over the past month. Some sections of the Eastern Corn Belt in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio saw corn basis up 3 or more cents a bushel, like reflecting concerns about slow plantings by merchandisers.

For soybeans, new-crop basis levels were up 8-cents a bushel on average over the last month. Combined with the sharp rally in futures prices, many farmers now have an opportunity to lock-in $10 soybean prices for fall delivery. Basis gains were especially strong along the Ohio River region with gains of 10-cents or more being fairly typical. The southeast and mid-Atlantic posted the lowest gains in new-crop bean basis as farmers in these regions are likely plant substantially more bean acres than last year.

With a delayed planting, and tight old-crop soybeans, this summer is shaping up to be every bit as volatile as past summers. To help farmers be better traders, Go Grain LLC (www.gograin.com) has developed a new educational website, GrainClass.com, which helps farmers gain valuable trading experience for free in real world market conditions. Try your hand at trading corn and soybeans to gain experience using marketing tools in real-world conditions without the real-world risk of losing money. To learn more, visit www.GrainClass.com

Futures continued to keep their bias to the upside this week, with new-crop soybean futures eclipsing $10.50 a bushel. Eastern Corn Belt states finally caught a break with the weather, and boosted their corn plantings. However, acreage numbers still remain a huge wildcard for the coming season and with delayed plantings, yield potential may be hampered a bit.