Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/26/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            It seems like lots of traders have already cleared out, leaving instructions for the last one to leave to shut off the lights…that will happen before lunch time. Futures are choppy this morning in light trade. Overnight, China cut interest rates again. Also, Japan booked about 3.2 myn bu of Black Sea (most likely Ukrainian) CORN. I can’t remember Japan ever buying Black Sea corn. They will test the quality, one thing working in their favor is that it will be GMO free, which is still a very hot topic in parts of the world. Egypt did ‘officially’ shut off shipments of Ukrainian wheat due to quality problems. We have shared weather ‘emails from Aussie’ over the last week. It is interesting to see how long it takes for some news to make it through to the ‘national’ level…well the nationals are picking up stories of from1.5 to 2 myn mt of Aussie wheat suffering quality this morning.

            Open Interest in Corn continues to fall. We are at 892m open caks, the lowest levels in almost 3 years, and the market still feels mushy. Demand is needed. The other day we talked about slow grower selling in corn, that is due at least in part to windfalls many of these corn/ bean growers will get this year (similar to what many wheat growers will see next summer). Due to sharp price drop CRC will have big payouts. For example: if you were a corn grower with 175 bpa proven and had 75% coverage, and IF the final price from RMA is $3.80 you would have claim even if you harvested 186 bpa.  USDA reported that total farm income will barely beat out last years levels, but in the same report, they also point out that production costs are up over $3 Byn more than last year. The GAO has been very critical of farm payments, claiming that there have been more than $49 myn in overpayments. Obama vowed to cut excess and  said he wants a hard $250m cap.

***Didja Know: The only rock that floats in water is pumice…Since bread is square, why is lunch meat round? Hot dog buns come in packs of 8 while hot dogs come in packs of 10? If you drove your car at the speed of light, and turned on the lights, would they work?….Remember to count your blessings, not your troubles.

Have a Happy THANKSGIVING

 Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/24/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            A day of consolidation after yesterday’s emotional run up. In light volume, futures are giving up 6-9 pretty much across the board, all grains, all delivery months. I wonder if traders are cleaning up accounts for month end, and taking off early? Corn harvest is rated 89% complete, and with no ‘big’ weather, finishing this week should not be a huge hurdle. This market desperately needs consumptive DEMAND in wheat/ corn, not just speculative bursts. We still have a huge % of the 2008 wheat crop to market, and corn prices managed the steep decline on profit taking, not on country selling. Point is, that we are just wrapping up the US’s 2^nd largest corn crop, country selling like exports, have been very very slow. European feed products are finding their way into the US. Inspection reports from yesterday were encouraging. Corn managed an ‘average’ 28.7 myn bu, but wheat shipments were strong at 22.3 myn bu. Vera Sun says that they have an ‘interested’ party for potential acquisition. Pilgrims Pride (#1 US Chicken producer/ 24% market share) is on the edge, even #2 Tyson reported $91 myn in losses in their poultry division.

            Paki is still ‘waiting in the wings’ no new word. Jordan and Iraq are working ‘optional origin’ tenders. Some very good news; South Korea is welcoming back US beef to many of its more prominent markets. US beef is about ½ the price of the local beef and with SK economy struggling, they are welcoming back US beef. Pre “mad cow” SK was our #3 beef market. Cost of inputs will weigh on planting decisions for Brazil as they ponder corn acres for their winter crop. I would expect worldwide that we will see far fewer PLANTED acres for all grains. It is far too early to worry about US corn acreage for this spring (we will need to keep monitoring corn usage and how it impacts carryouts). Syngenta is lobbying trying to get approval for a GMO corn specifically designed for use in ethanol production. Also 7 members of the EU are now commercially producing GMO crops (Spain is leading the way).

***Didja Know: “Great men undertake great things because they are great, fools because they think they are easy” Vauvernagues. The 2 best stimulants to one’s best efforts: fear of punishment, hope of reward…A “Jiffy” is an actual unit of time equal to 1/100^th of a second…Time is what keeps all things from happening at once..Remember you are a unique and unrepeatable creation…just like everyone else.                                                     HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/24/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            US equities are down hard this morning, crude is up hard, and so are futures. Fundamentals are unchanged but this market is not being driven by fundamentals anyway right now. COT report was as expected: Specs continued to be sellers (until this morning anyway) in Chicago wheat/ corn. Funds posted their smallest positions in years in Chicago wheat/ corn. Overall long in corn is down to 1.12 byn bu. Weather has been good for harvest, expect this pm’s crop progress to show harvest essentially done. Value of DDG’s has also been weak further injuring income stream for E plants. Vera Sun was de-listed. According to the NYSE one of the criteria for de-listing (other than voluntary) is for stock to trade less than $1 for 30 consecutive days. US consumer seems to have a ‘bunker’ mentality, hunkering down and trying to weather the storm as best as possible. Goldman Sachs said they expect the US economy to contract by 5% this quarter, and 3% next quarter…Several ‘no sale’ land auctions were held in Iowa last week. Sellers were not happy with values bid (most reflected at least 5-10% drop in values the last 2 months). US Gov’t gave Citi Group another $20 byn. The Gov’t will also accept the most of the potential $306 byn in losses, preferred stock and 8% dividends. Investors won’t get a dividend, in fact Citi will have to ask permission from US Treasury before giving out more than 1% in dividends…Amazing times these are…

            Iran did admit this morning that they were ‘forced’ to import wheat from the US. Not sure what that means other than quality SWW wheat in the world is still in fairly short supply. I know these prices don’t feel much like a premium, but when compared to SRW and Black Sea/ Russian wheat, our SWW prices have held up well. We also have another email from the land OZ…see below.

            Thanks again TOM!!!

I received the following comment from OZ early this morning. 

==========

The rains here have done some damage. 

Have spoken to farmers in the areas affected...Sthn Qld (Southern Queensland) and Nth NSW (Northern NSW). Most are about 50-60% completed harvest, but they confirm anything not harvested is sprouted. 

We are doing our calcs, but we would say 2-2.5 mmt could be sprouted grain and still to harvest. 

This will tighten our milling wheat balance sheet, and being mainly Aust Prime hard region, will take some of the competition away from CWRS and DNS in Asia I expect.

Sthn areas of WA are also now at risk - rains last 24 hrs in sthn WA is not good - need to wait another few days there yet.

========== 

As best as I can tell, the significant rains were in the middle of last week and have tapered off to virtually nothing by the weekend in northern NSW.

I'll contact a friend near Wagga and see where harvest stands.  Their 8.0 mm for November doesn't appear to be a problem.  Normal November precipitation in Wagga is 43.8 mm so they are well below normal.

Also don't forget that we're likely to see an upward revision in wheat acreage when ABARE releases their next crop production report on December 9th.

 Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/21/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            A new day, same old story. Futures continue to leak. OI (Open interest) is down, in fact OI in corn is lower than it has been since January of ?06 at 960,000 caks. Looking back to the highs we got to 1.546 myn caks back in Feb of this year. What?s it mean? Longs (index funds) continue to leave the market. COT should bear this out Monday.

            Ethanol: yeah I know we spend a lot time here lately, but bear through this?it is interesting. Theoretical GROSS margins are now down to about .35/ gallon. Very slim. More Vera Sun lessons: Growers selling to Vera Sun MAY be stuck more than once. Lets say you sold them corn for $5/ bu for Jan delivery, and today the market is $4. That loss is easy to calculate, but it gets more interesting. So you know you won?t get $5, but you can?t sell the corn to anyone else, because Vera Sun has the right to call that contract, if markets change, and it is beneficial for them to do so. What it really means is that the grower in this case cannot without risk, do anything to manage downside. If the grower re-sold the corn for say $4 to a feedlot, and the price went back to $5, his first obligation would be to deliver to Vera Sun, and then buy $5 corn to ship against his $4 cak to the feedlot. Right now Vera Sun has until about April to determine if they want the caks?putting the grower on the hook till then. Vera Sun also announced at least a ?temporary? shut down of the Dyersville plant after some corn checks to growers went NSF. This is 110 myn gallon plant and was expected to use 40 myn bu of corn. By the way this plant is only 2 months old.

            International news: Another email from ?Tom? on the Aussie situation (this dealing with NSW). In another article, up to 12% of the Aussie crop is at risk from excess rain/ sprout etc. See at the end of today?s newsletter. Argie says that they expect to harvest a record bean crop. Once this crop comes off, they will be VERY competitive for Chinese biz. Russia has already shipped 9 myn mt of grain this year: 8.1 myn mt of wheat and almost 1 myn mt of barley. Ukraine has shipped 10 myn mt this year. The balance of power/ food production is shifting as these countries move toward a market economy. Perhaps somewhere not to far down the line US grain production for ethanol will be seen in a more positive light once again?

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

***All bids are subject to change, please call for CONFIRMATION of prices. All information in this letter is from sources deemed reliable, and is for informational purposes only***

Dear Tom:

I received a couple e-mails today from Australia that I thought might interest you.

This first comment is from a producer friend near Moree in northern NSW. 

==========

Started harvest here early in November yields have been good 3-3.5tonnes hectare. Then the rain came, so far for November 175mm (average 75mm) for the farm. I am expecting significant downgrading when I am able to get back into the fields. Weather outlook for this region is wet for next week. I have to admit , I am becoming al little frightened.

========== 

For those metrically challenged folks, a yield of 3.0-3.5 MT/Ha works out to 45-52 bu/acre. 

And a merchandiser friend sent me the following. 

==========

No headers will roll before Sunday at the earliest, but signs are not good.

The farmer we visited last year between Gilgandra and Warren (club wheat producer) rang to say that one of his remaining unharvested crops is shot and sprung.

His crops are normally sown far earlier than most, so perhaps with harvest only 25% finished in his area others may not have been adequately mature to have suffered the same damage 

Won't know until they get going again or rub some heads out.

In net effect, the amount badly damaged (below 300FN) could be as high as 1MMT, more likely 0.5-0.75MMT.

==========

Precipitation totals Nov 18-21 (4 consecutive days of rain)

Moree--44.5 mm

Narrabri--48.6 mm

Coonamble--93.0 mm (west of the Newell Highway)

Coonabarabran--87.6 mm

Dubbo--42.6 mm

Forbes--25.2 mm

 Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/20/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            As economy continues to writhe, investors pull back from commodities, making them less expensive (eventually increasing demand). Hong Kong index down 4%, Nikkei down 6.9% overnight, crude $3.90/ bbl lower. Sales report was once again a mixed bag….very weak corn sales, and pretty decent wheat sales: Corn, a puny 17.1 myn is all that was registered. We need at least 28/ week to hit USDA. Wheat; 18.8 myn bu. On the year we are ahead on sales, and shipments of wheat. Red wheats have gained favor: 4.9 myn DNS, 5.9 HRW, 5.1 SRW, and 2.8 SWW. Syria booked Russian wheat, Japan booked US wheat (but only 300,000 bu of WWW). Egypt booked a small tender of Russian wheat at $4.35 equivalent on FOB basis. The rest of the offers were rejected. Vera Sun’s problems continue…they reported $474 myn in losses. Very weak margins in ethanol, weak meat markets (Fat cattle @.85 this morning) are pulling down all feed grains. Overall US wheat crop scores are rated much higher than last year.

            Heavy rains continue in Aussie. See part of an email following this report. As is correctly pointed out, and we know from experience, it isn’t so much how MUCH rain they get this time of year, it is more important how long the grain remains wet. Yields are reported as VERY GOOD, rumor is quality MAY be affected, but as of yet…no real reports. It does sound like they will certainly have some quality issues on unharvested grain. The EU ministers couldn’t agree on whether to accept a Monsanto GM soybean, so it will be accepted by default. You might remember that is how they have it organized, that if there isn’t enough opposition to a GM variety, it is accepted by default. This is especially strong news considering today’s grain situations and world economies. The EU also said that they will start to ‘decouple’ farm subsidies from production (much more WTO palatable) starting 2010. They will also reduce direct payments 10% by 2013, with the first cut (7%) coming in 2010.

***Didja Know: CRC facts: 45% of eligible Texas acres are under CRC, 38% of Oklahoma, 50% of Kansas. Other states: Oregon, Washington, Montana, North Dakota are not broken out by insurance type. 79% of Oregon wheat has some sort of coverage, In Montana it is 91%, and North Dakota 96%.

***All bids are subject to change, please call for CONFIRMATION of prices. All information in this letter is from sources deemed reliable, and is for informational purposes only***

Our thanks to TOM for sharing this email information with us!!!

Moree--42.0 mm

Narrabri--25.0 mm

Coonamble--89.2 mm (west of the Newell Highway)

Coonabarabran--86.2 mm

Dubbo--42.4 mm

Forbes--24.4 mm 

It's been raining for 3 straight days at the locations listed above.

So, I asked one of my merchandising friends in northern NSW about the wheat harvest progress and here's how he responded.  Please note that white wheats are much more sensitive to sprouting than red wheats. 

==========

Remember that we have white wheat!  It's not so much the precipitation totals as how many days it remains wet.  This is how I would estimate the wheat harvest progress:
Qld 75-85%
Moree to Qld border 75% (less east more west)
Narrabri-Moree ca 50%
Coonamble 25-40%
Nyngan 30-40%
Narromine-Trangie 10%
Parkes-Forbes 2%
========== 

I then asked another friend how things are playing out with the wheat harvest in his area around Narrabri.

==========

Harvest from Narrabri through to the border is 50% complete. I think therefore, up to 800,000 tonnes is exposed to downgrading. Falling number will be the problem. This time around we have received between 40-85 mils over three days with cloudy weather. Today the weather has broken but still with plenty of cloud.

In the area south of Narrabri through the Liverpool Plains (Gunnedah/Quirindi) only around 5% has been harvested as the crop here is later.  However there will be problems here including staining and falling number. There is another 600,000 tonnes here with maybe 200,000 tonnes exposed to quality issues.                            To date yields have been fabulous. This rain is very disappointing.

The impression that I have is that harvest tonnage is going to be quite good and probably better than expected on yields in northern NSW and QLD (see comment above).  The higher ABS acreage data for 2007 released on Nov 14th will likely boost ABARE's baseline estimates for 2008 (Dec 9th report) and therefore we should plan on more 2008 crop area to go along with better-than-expected yields.  It's the downgrading in quality that is a potential problem for producers along with the crash in the A$ (down 20% over the past 2 months).

The following article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.

==========

It never rains - it just pours at the wrong times                           AS BANJO PATERSON wrote: "The bush hath moods and changes, as the seasons rise and fall, and the men who know the bush-land - they are loyal through it all."

Lloyd Graham is one of those men, but the loyalty of farmers is once again being tested by nature.

After several years of drought-ravaged crops, many grain growers - particularly in the north of the state - had been looking forward to a decent harvest. Yet the headers that should be rolling across the slopes and plains stripping wheat, barley and oats have been brought to a halt by widespread and sometimes heavy rain that has come at the wrong time.

Rain at harvest not only bogs equipment, it can severely damage the quality of crops.

Mr Graham, who farms near Dunedoo, was stripping his oats on Monday evening when the rain arrived, forcing him to stop with a third of the crop still to harvest.

In the 24 hours to 9am yesterday, the heaviest falls in the grain belt included Gunnedah with 45 millimetres, Coonabarabran 75, Coonamble 71, Trangie 50, Glen Innes 51 and Dunedoo 35. In the south, falls were mostly less than 10 millimetres. More light rain fell across the state throughout the day, although Mungindi had 27 millimetres from a thunderstorm.

Yesterday afternoon the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for a wide band stretching from Broken Hill to Tenterfield.

The forecast is for isolated showers and thunderstorms to continue over the grain belt into the weekend.

David Ginns, from the grain handler Graincorp, said that unless hot, dry weather quickly returned, farmers in some areas would start to see their crops downgraded and lose money.

Mr Graham hopes to resume his final three days of harvesting by the weekend and is not expecting damage to the oats, which he will feed to his sheep over winter. The rain was also wonderful for pasture in the lead-up to summer.

"I take [rain] when I can get it, to make up for when I want it and can't get it. You have got to be pretty philosophical about it."

In the Riverina, swarms of locusts have also started descending on crops.

Not everyone on the land has had the strength to ride out these ups and downs.

Today the Salvation Army will launch its Braver, Stronger, Wiser project, which will distribute 500,000 DVDs to tackle the depression widespread in rural communities.

 Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/18/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            Futures called lower all across the board, and that’s exactly what we got early on. Wheat has since reversed and is now posting positive numbers, corn is still a little under water. Corn harvest is 78% complete vs. 97% average (with good harvest weather the next 2 weeks), and wheat seedings are 90% complete, which IS the 5 yr ave. Everyone probably has an opinion somewhere on ethanol, and its good/ bad…we DO NEED to be aware of what is going on, and today it seems they are under attack from all angles…here are some things to consider: Since 1978 the US has spent $30 byn in ethanol subsidies. Ethanol produced has reduced the need for $98 byn in oil imports, and has also produced some $33.4 byn in revenue (for Uncle Sam). IF ethanol gets blamed/ credited for the 2007 runup then it must also get credited with saving some $3.45 byn in LDP’s on the 2007 crop. Tough numbers. Bio-diesel is expected to consume about 25% of the worlds bean crop in ’08-09…a full 16% of the US crop is expected to be headed for bio-diesel.

            Export slate finally is showing some signs of life: Taiwan is in tonight, Jordan will be in tomorrow (optional origin), as will Japan. Japan will tender for a tiny WWW portion and it will be max 10.5’s. Paki will issue a tender announcement for up to 18.3 myn bu of wheat…boy would that ever look great on the US sales report!! Paki also said so far their wheat crop looks excellent. SRW index is about $3.73 today, which is about -$1.80 UNDER futures. Cheap ocean freight and a weak Brazilian currency, gives them an edge on corn and bean exports. We managed 14.3 myn bu in shipments last week on 1.5 myn of it SWW

            FC Stone continues forward and is trying to hold things together after a nearly disasterous September. Being a brokerage house, they had some accounts that could not meet their margin requirements (one account in energy was said to have cost them $25 myn). FDA is setting up 3 office in China to monitor food and inspect imports/ exports. Congress is NOT expected to act on the FTA agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea in the lame duck session…they will almost certainly have to wait for the new Congress.

***Didja Know: Mosquitos prefer children over adults, (the females are the only ones that bite), they also flap their wings over 500 times/ second.

 Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/17/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            Futures are starting out mixed this morning, with wheats down hard (-10 to –16) and corn anywhere from +/- 5. Good weather should help with the US corn harvest, and when the USDA posts numbers this pm, traders are expecting to see good progress. The markets are almost void of market driving news, and most of the activity is from the specs and funds. The COT report shows the specs continue to build a short position in Chicago wheat/ corn. Funds have been amazingly resilient and have held most of their long positions as a % of open interest. Funds are still long 680 myn bu of wheat and 1.13 byn bu of corn (virtually the entire anticipated US carryout)…but the specs are SHORT, and increasing their shorts in wheat and corn, particularly corn where they are now 372 myn bu short. The corn market is very similar to wheat today in that it is searching for demand. It just amazes me how quickly this market turned from a demand driven market just a few months ago to supply driven market today!

            Economy remains a mess, and many believe that the market has already ‘factored’ in a GM failure. Their numbers have been bad for some time. GENCO (they operate a fleet of 31 bulk cargo ships cancelled $530 myn in orders for new ships, but will take 6 others that they had on order (3 new capsize, and 3 ‘handy’ size). Citi group to cut 53m employees…so the economy still has a way to go.

            Rain in Aussie, especially NSW will slow harvest. Aussie is experiencing some ‘growing pains’ as they get used to a free market grain industry. CBH is trying hard to get ownership, to maintain logistics, but farmers have dug in their heels. One grower commented “I don’t think it’s the farmers fault, I think the people who are wanting to purch the wheat should pay the price its worth”…They will! Beijing has set a goal of 95% self sufficiency by 2020, and one tool they will attempt to use is a grain reserve (70% of annual use). What lessons have we learned by use of the reserve? It will guarantee low prices for one.

***Didja Know: “The brain is wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get into the office”  Robert Frost

 Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                              Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      11/13/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            Corn was expected to open down 5 to 8, but with crude down nearly $4, corn is getting crushed down 20 right now. Record world wheat crop has wheat going into rations that would typically see corn. US corn exports are projected to be down AT LEAST 560 myn bu vs. last year. So it does not look like wheat will not be getting support from corn any time soon. Continued heavy weather in the corn country offers the most positive news for corn. Field losses will mount. The weather man sez we can expect heavy winds (gusts up to 50 mph tonight/ tomorrow)…that will flatten some corn still in the fields. Yesterdays crop progress report showed harvest only 71% complete, vs. 88% ave. Iowa is very far behind with only 62% harvested.

SWW values seem to continue to cling to the $5 to 5.20 range. The US SRW index is $3.49 this morning, vs. Futures values that are + $1.71 higher than the grain they are supposed to represent. For comparison purposes, look at the DNS. The US DNS index is only .06/ bu below futures values. Convergence (or lack of it) is still a huge huge problem. It is amazing to see the difference between supply driven markets (what we have today) vs. demand driven markets (last year). World credit problems obviously hurt the poor the most. In Central America, up to 50% of household income goes to food. Where the banks in those countries are foreign owned and having problems of their own, credit to make sales just gets that much tougher. Japan has passed on SWW in the last 5 tenders. The export slate for SWW is just extremely thin right now. Futures with HUGE carries do provide some opportunity for pricings of the 2009 crop. Chicago Sept futures have traded in the $6.45 to $6.50 range 3-4 times in the last 6 weeks.

***Didja Know: A SPECIAL thank you to all the men and women that have served in the armed forces so that we may enjoy the freedoms we often take for granted. Also, a special thank you to their families that stayed behind and provided them with support and encouragement.

***All bids are subject to change, please call for CONFIRMATION of prices. All information in this letter is from sources deemed reliable, and is for informational purposes only***