By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for December delivery fell 3.6%, to $8.59 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday as traders digested signals from Russia on whether or not the Black Sea export corridor deal will extend past November.

--Corn for December delivery fell 1.2% to $6.89 3/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.9%, to $13.83 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Russia Watch: Russia's threat to terminate the existing Black Sea grain export corridor deal lifted CBOT wheat futures earlier this week, but on Friday the threat was reconsidered by traders that are unconvinced that Russia will follow through. "The market's response is likely to have been dampened by the fact that Russia's finance minister expressed optimism during the G20 meeting that agreement could be reached," said Commerzbank in a note. The firm also adds that Russia is looking to boost export demand for its own large wheat crop by removing export quotas typically placed on wheat between February and June, citing a report for Interfax.

External Influence: A stronger U.S. dollar and weaker crude oil prices put pressure on grain futures to end the week. Grains have been more susceptible to the movement of outside markets in recent weeks. "Corn futures are lower from a sharply higher USD, lower WTI crude oil and ongoing global recession concerns," said Terry Reilly of Futures International in a note. Corn's tie to outside markets stems in large part from its use in renewable fuel - responding to movements in crude oil prices as a result.


INSIGHTS


Falling Water: The water level on the Mississippi River continues to be trending lower, creating what the American Commercial Barge Line calls "catastrophic impacts to boat capacity." Barge loads have been reduced in an effort to mitigate the low waters, but closures and delays continue to plague the river system - pressuring U.S. grain exports, as roughly half of grains exported in the U.S. come from the river. "Without relief, many producers will scramble to find places to store their goods or face exorbitant wait times and costs to acquire transportation," said Daniel Munch with the American Farm Bureau Federation in a note.

Low Tide: Weekly export sales of U.S. corn again missed trader estimates this week, while sales of wheat and soybeans fell on the low end of expectations - amid both low water levels on the Mississippi and a stronger U.S. dollar. For the week ended Oct. 6, sales of corn totaled 260,700 metric tons across both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 marketing years. Traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week had expected sales from 300,000 tons to 900,000 tons. Meanwhile, wheat sales totaled 211,800 tons and soybean sales totaled 724,400 tons.

Sunny Side Up: The integration of solar panels and working crop fields - referred to as 'agrivoltaics' - is still mostly in the testing phase. But its process as a viable commercial option is drawing closer, professors with Purdue University told the WSJ. It's taken the university five years to get its solar project in operation, but the project is now in its second phase - creating a cost-effective system that farmers can actually afford to use. "We're trying to identify off-the-shelf components, modifying those a little bit," said Mitchell Tuinstra, a professor of plant-breeding and genetics at Purdue. The process of optimizing agrivoltaics for commercial use is expected to take another three to four years. "It's a bigger challenge to make it work in a commodity agriculture system,"he said.


AHEAD:


-The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

-The USDA will release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-14-22 1509ET