Grains close higher:

July Corn + 15 1/2 cents/bu (6.23 1/4)

July Soybeans + 40 cents/bu (14.28 1/4)

July Wheat +31 ¼ cents/bu (6.61 ½)

Cdn $ +0.00595 (75.705 cents)

WTI Crude Oil +2.35/barrel (70.62)

Oh, happy days. Grains found significant strength today amid the back-and-forth weather news. Today, the news being clearly to the positives. Dec corn settled at $5.74-1/2 per bu (highest since Feb. 27) and Nov soy settled at $12.92-1/4 (highest since April 20).

Weather models were generally unchanged this session but the way the systems were moved around, it took rains from key areas and spread them lightly in other areas. Even in the most optimistic weather models, the eastern Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana area will be absent of rain and now the models are starting to peer into July. The Drought Monitor marked the Midwest’s progress with 30% of the core producing area dropping further into soil moisture deficits from a week ago. According to the Drought Monitor agency, drought covers 57% of the corn area (up from 26% three weeks ago), 51% of the soybean region. Arlan Suderman noted today, “This is still not 2012, and we still have a demand problem, but we do need to see rains return to Midwest, even with relatively mild temperatures as we move into late June”.

NOPA crush numbers came in for the month of May above the April number and above last May’s 171.1 mbu.  NOPA’s crush number for May matched the best expectations for the month. April bean oil stocks fell below the April number (both of the numbers within the trade’s average ranges). NOPA said its May report included data from new member Shell Rock Soy Processing LLC in Shell Rock, Iowa, for the first time. Can explain some of the higher crush. This is the first significant positive demand metric that we have seen in quite a while amid the Chinese import story slowing.

Funds were thought to have been all buyers today.