Yesterday’s “derecho” weather event that brought hurricane-force winds to parts of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana likely caused 200-400 million bushels of lost corn production. Some estimates suggest the event may have lowered the U.S. national corn yield by as much as 2 bushels/acre. The wind also reportedly toppled grain bins, causing concerns about the volume of on-farm storage available this fall. Iowa’s agriculture secretary noted some of the damaged corn will “still make a crop this fall”, but that harvestable quantities cannot be estimated presently.

The CBOT started higher on Tuesday with that backdrop supporting corn and soybean futures. Wheat futures were higher on a combination of su...