Today was the inaugural MGEX conference call in conjunction with the Stats Canada agricultural data releases, following the release of March Intentions of Principal Field Crop Areas, 2012 report. The call included commentary on the data from Dennis Cajigas from Zaner Group. The first call had several Canadian journalists tuned in, as well as farm broadcaster Al Gustin of KFYR in Bismark, ND who asked about the impact recent developments regarding the Canadian Wheat Board may have had on this year’s planting intentions in Canada.

All of the MGEX conference calls are posted on the exchange website – links right on the front page. Contact Rita Maloney or Joe Victor at MGEX if you would like to receive notices about upcoming calls.

Listen to today’s MGEX Canadian crop conference call here: MGEX Canadian Conference Call

Here are seasons greetings from the staff at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange: Mark G. Bagan, Jesse Bartz, Layne Carlson, James Facente, Rita Maloney, Georgette McDonald, Blake Tiedeman.

Learn more about it on their website.

In conjunction with the 130th anniversary of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, Inc. (MGEX), the company will hold a celebration and auction on Friday, December 2, 2011. Numerous unique and valuable MGEX items, some dating back more than a century, will be available for bid in both live and silent auctions.

The 130th Anniversary Celebration and Auction will be held on the historic Trading Floor which dates back to 1902 when the first of three current Grain Exchange buildings was erected at the corner of South Fourth Street and South Fourth Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. The Main Building housed the Trading Floor, the central location where producers, processors and millers would gather to trade wheat, oats, corn and other commodities. The cash market trading occurred on unique cash tables where sellers would show potential buyers the various grains being offered. Some of these tables, the
first of which was placed on the floor in 1902, are among the historical items up for auction. For a complete list of live and silent auction items, visit www.mgex.com/history.html.

According to MGEX, October futures and options trading volume was 149,923 contracts, a 33 percent increase over the same period a year ago. Total exchange open interest was up 39 percent over October of last year, led by a strong increase in open interest of Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) futures contracts. HRSW futures open interest totaled 67,318 in October 2010, compared to 43,339 in the same period last year.

MGEX also announced the addition of Joe Victor as Business Development Specialist. Victor comes to the Exchange with 30 years of experience in the cash, futures and agricultural investment industries.

“Joe Victor is a well-respected and experienced addition to the MGEX team,” Mark G. Bagan, President & CEO, MGEX said. “His industry knowledge and credibility will serve our members and market participants well,” Bagan said.

MGEX’s July 2010 trading volume was 170,679 – a 98 percent increase over the same period last year and the thirteenth-best monthly Exchange volume in MGEX’s 129 year history. July futures open interest soared 61 percent year-over-year and total Exchange open interest increased by 51 percent in the same period.

Numerous records were set in July including a daily total exchange volume record of 17,973 set on July 15, making it the eighth best volume day in Exchange history. A new July futures trading volume record was also set with 168,490 Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) futures contracts trading during the month. Electronic milestones included four top 20 electronic volume days; July 15 when 17,255 contracts traded electronically; July 22 when 12,820 contracts traded electronically; July 29 when 10,964 contracts traded electronically; and July 30 when 10,859 contracts traded electronically. Additionally, July total electronic volume reached 155,644, making it the second-highest electronic trading month in MGEX history.

“Stronger wheat market fundamentals have spurred trading interest from both the buy side and the sell side in our Hard Red Spring Wheat contract,” Rita Maloney, Director, Marketing and Business Development, MGEX said. “As the only U. S. wheat contract with a protein specification, our flagship contract continues to be an affective risk management tool for our worldwide market participants,” Maloney said.

Corn planted area for all purposes in 2010 is estimated at 87.9 million acres, up 2 percent from last year. Acreage is up in Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio; but down significantly in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. Soybean planted area for 2010 is estimated at a record high 78.9 million acres, up 2 percent from last year.

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) held a conference call on the report this morning, featuring commentary by Joe Victor of Allendale, Inc., who expressed surprise at the decrease from the March report in corn acres. “This is the first time that we’ve seen fewer corn acres in the June planted acreage report versus the March, but it’s also the second largest number of corn acres planted,” Victor said.

Victor says the stocks report, with corn up 1 percent at 4.31 billion bushels and usage at 3.38 billion, was also a surprise. “That’s the first time that we can ever put a 3 in front of total usage, that is a record amount of usage, March through May,” said Victor. The previous record was 2007-2008 at 2.83 billion bushels.

Listen to Joe Victor’s MGEX conference call here. The audio can also be found on the MGEX website.
MGEX Conference Call with Joe Victor

Corn production is forecast at 12.9 billion bushels, down 1 percent from last month but 7 percent higher than 2008. Based on conditions as of November 1, yields are expected to average 162.9 bushels per acre, down 1.3 bushels from October but 9.0 bushels above last year. Despite the drop in yield from October, this yield will be the highest on record if realized. Total production will be second highest on record, only behind 2007. Within the Corn Belt, forecasted yields in Minnesota and Wisconsin increased, while Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan yields decreased.

Soybean production is forecast at a record high 3.32 billion bushels, up 2 percent from the October forecast and up 12 percent from last year. Based on November 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 43.3 bushels per acre, up 0.9 bushel from last month and up 3.6 bushels from 2008. If realized, this will be the highest U.S. yield on record.

The corn harvest continues to lag far behind normal. According to USDA, just 37 percent of the corn had been combined as of Sunday, compared to 82 percent average. Soybeans are doing better with 75 percent harvest compared to 92 percent average.

Analyst Brian Hoops with Midwest Market Solutions told reporters on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange crop call that many farmers are talking about leaving their corn in the field. “There’s a lot of producers in the northern part of the corn belt, North Dakota in particular, that are likely to leave the crop sit throughout the winter because of the concerns about dry down and the cost of drying the corn down manually.”

According to a news release: With the creation of the MGEX site, anyone subscribing to view information on MGEX can receive up to date information in a timely manner. The page can be accessed at: http://twitter.com/MGEX1.

“Twitter provides us with a tool to stay connected with our members and market participants and gives us the opportunity to reach out to a larger audience,” Rita Maloney, Director of Marketing and Business Development, MGEX said. “We are always looking for ways to build brand identity and enhance existing relationships. Twitter offers that in an extremely convenient, cost-effective way.”

Today the call focused on the April Supply Demand report and the commentator was Mike Krueger from The Money Farm, who said that normally this month’s reports are normally not that significant since we had the big prospective plantings report out last week.

He said the reports include the “typical monthly revisions of supply and demand” which all came in well below the range of analysts’ estimates for ending stock numbers.

Listen to this morning’s call here and check out the MGEX website for daily commentary.