Suddenly we have gone back to traditional autumn weather with rain and wind after a week of summer weather which has seen most of the cereal harvest work done.

Beans are still some way off being ready and potato lifting continues.

The Liffe feed wheat futures for November 2015 closed £2.20 higher last weekend at £115.55, and oilseed rape was £1 down on the week.

Wheat futures were up due to the latest USDA report which indicated a 1.4m cut in planted wheat acreage in the US and also a drop in yield.

Continuing dry weather in Russia, which is affecting their planting progress and also Australia remains dry with concerns that their wheat crop could deteriorate if this continues.

To partly offset the drop in wheat tonnage in the US, Russia and Australia, Canada has increased its wheat production by 1.43m tonnes from last month's estimate but will still be below last year's record crop of 29.42m tonnes. The EU crop has also seen another increase with estimates up another 4m tonnes.

Russia has approved proposals to reduce their export tax from October 1, with the aim to support Russian wheat exports which have got off to a slower start than in the past two seasons and with this tax they may set a new export record in this current season.

Global wheat demand is in the doldrums and US wheat exports are running 15% behind last year's level. EU exports are down 23% from last year and the Black sea region is down an estimated 11%. With better domestic harvests in the populated areas of North Africa and the Middle East this has the effect of reducing requirements and therefore, less imports are needed

The UK is forecast to export 1.7m tonnes of wheat in 2015/16 and with higher yields there will again be large carry-over stocks.

Total global wheat imports are forecast to fall by 3m tonnes in 2015/16 to 156m tonnes due to lower imports to Iran and Turkey but Egypt, Indonesia and Algeria are forecast to increase year-on-year.

For the world, excluding the EU, wheat usage for animal feed is expected to be static in 2015/16 while maize usage for feed is forecast up. This suggests that UK feed wheat will have to work harder to compete for demand outside of the EU.

Currency will once again play an important role, last season, sterling's strength against the euro notably reduced the competitiveness of UK wheat into European markets and has continued to do so to date this season.

Over the past year the euro has fallen 7% against sterling, hampering UK exports and reducing CAP Basic payments for many UK farmers.

Traditionally, the EU is the UK's main destination for wheat exports, in 2014/15 the largest amounts went to Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. 2015/16 is likely to continue the trend after hot and dry weather had a detrimental impact on Spanish wheat yields and demand for imported wheat could be higher this season.

Over the last 10 years, an average of 11% of UK's wheat exports have been to non-EU destinations. However, in 2014 this jumped to 37%, the highest proportion since 1992/93. This was due to the falling competitiveness of UK exports into Europe and the need for UK wheat to find other markets.

In addition, strengthening of the US dollar against sterling and reduced freight rates helped UK exports to more easily reach non-EU markets such as Thailand, Japan, Philippines and South Korea.

Low freight costs during 2014/15 helped UK wheat reach non-traditional destinations where freight costs account for a larger proportion of the imported cost of wheat. The global fleet of dry bulk ships used to transport grains is still expected to grow in the coming years.

The slowing growth of China's economy is affecting trade of all major commodities transported in dry bulk, especially coal. This reduces the demand for shipping, so keeps freight rates low, which includes grain.

UK feed barley values have picked up this past week as enquiries for export tonnage on larger vessels increase. This has had the effect of the barley discount to wheat shrinking.

This will make barley less attractive to the UK compounder and as a result domestic barley prices will lag behind export values at the moment.

Malting barley prices have not picked up as the Scottish barley harvest finally comes closer to a finish. With yields and quality above average and skinning being the only quality issue, enough usable barley has been harvested to meet this year's maltsters demand.

Large carryover from last year's harvest will mean that prices are unlikely to rise in the foreseeable future.

Palm oil prices have hit a 14 month high in Malaysia and have now climbed 15% in a two week period.

This rally has been driven by the fear that the EL Nino may cut the speed of production growth of palm oil by 50% due to dry conditions caused by the EL Nino weather pattern.

Malaysia accounts for 85% of global palm oil production and if palm oil prices get too high then demand could shift to other oils in 2016 and could see oilseed rape prices increase as it is one of the high oil yielding oilseeds.