Summer seasonal trade idea in corn
Each individual locale has a relatively unique planting and harvest cycle; further, crops around the world face various windows of opportunity for the optimal growing season. Nevertheless, as a U.S. based commodity trader, the focus should primarily be on the domestic crop cycles because it is these that will have the largest impact on the Chicago Board of Trade corn futures contract. Additionally, U.S. corn production accounts for between 35 to 40% of world production, making the U.S. crop critical to global supply and demand fundamentals. These annual planting and harvest cycles, produce recognizable price patterns in the futures markets that might be useful to speculators.
As mentioned, the exact growing cycle is dependent on local climate and weather but in general U.S. corn producers plant their crops in early April through mid-June. In a normal year (if such a thing exists), corn futures prices tend to peak in June as planting is completed and uncertainty regarding the quantity of planted acres begins to dissipate. However, in a perfect weather and circumstances year, such as 2014, the corn market can trade counter to seasonal tendencies.
