CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• The corn market finished slightly higher on the session, supported by higher crude oil prices and wheat prices on Tuesday. May corn added 3 cents to 462 ½, and July was 2 cents higher to 472 ½. Prices held support but consolidated toward the bottom of Monday’s range.
• USDA will release the Prospective Planting report on Tuesday, March 31. Private analysts are releasing some results of producers’ surveys, and the potential trend is a reduction of corn acres by 4-5 million acres versus last year. The USDA put baseline acres at 94 million acres versus 98.8 million acres last year.
• The EPA is likely to release the biofuels blending requirement for 2026 and 2027 before the end of the month. This will likely be announced at President Trump’s “Celebration of Agriculture” on Friday, March 27. Actions of the blending requirements could lead to improved ethanol demand.
• Corn market stays supported by concerns regarding fertilizer supplies and prices for the spring planting window. The issues with fertilizer supplies could limit some corn acres or reduce final yields of input levels are lowered due to costs.
• The weakness in some regions of old crop corn basis is a limiting factor as end users are handling large supplies of corn.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day lower with pressure from soybean oil and saw larger losses in the front months than deferred. May soybeans lost 8-1/2 cents to $11.55 while November lost 2-3/4 cents to $11.42-3/4. May soybean meal was down $4.20 to $322.40 and May soybean oil gained 0.15 cents with support from higher crude oil.
• China and Brazil have agreed to ease their soybean sanitary requirements which had temporarily caused a pause in exports from Brazil to China. A large number of cargoes failed to pass sanitary inspections according to Brazil’s Ag Ministry.
• The EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said that the US biofuel blending quota announcement would be made before the end of the month, and this has supported soybean oil. The White House’s celebration of agriculture event is this Friday, and there is speculation that it will be announced at that event.
• Yesterday’s export inspections report saw soybean inspections at 1,102k tons, which compared to 981k tons last week and 834k tons a year ago at this time. Top destinations were to China, Egypt, and Japan, but China has been purchasing fewer soybeans overall including fewer from Brazil.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat futures managed to close with gains in all three classes. A rebound in energy prices and a higher close for MATIF wheat may have offered some support to the US market. In the May contract, Chicago gained 2-1/4 cents to 590, Kansas City was up 3/4 cent at 604, and MIAX climbed 4-1/4 cents to 631-1/4.
• Select states issued updated wheat crop ratings as of March 22. In Kansas, conditions slipped 6% to 46% good to excellent. Meanwhile, Colorado fell 5% to 24% and Oklahoma declined 4% to 14%. Texas did improve 1% but only to 16% good to excellent.
• The EU Monitoring Agricultural Resources unit indicated that European winter crops are exiting dormancy with favorable conditions. Soil moisture is said to be adequate and late winter has been mild for many regions, in terms of temperature.
• According to Interfax, Russian grain exports so far in March are three times greater, year over year. Grain exports between March 1-20 are reported at 3.5 mmt. Of that total, wheat accounts for 3.1 mmt. It is said that importing countries want to secure supplies amidst the uncertainty of the Iran conflict.
• Due to concerns over fertilizer availability and low global prices, Australia may plant less wheat. Their winter wheat crop sowing campaign is set to begin in just weeks. There is talk that Australian farmers will favor planting of oilseeds and pulses instead.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III milk futures saw two-sided action before eventually falling before the close. May futures lost 15 cents to close at $17.59.
• Both spot cheese and whey were unchanged from the day prior at $1.61375/lb and $0.66/lb respectively.
• Class IV futures started the day off trending higher before reverting lower ahead of this afternoon’s Cold Storage report. May futures fell 4 cents to $20.70.
• Spot butter gained 4 cents on the day to trade back above $1.80/lb at $1.8125/lb. Powder climbed 3.25 cents to $1.91/lb.

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Author

Brandon Doherty