CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Late-session selling pushed corn futures toward a mixed, though mostly higher, close on Thursday afternoon. May futures slipped ¼ cent to 476, and July gained ¼ cent to 478.
• The strength in the corn market has been deferred to contracts. December futures added 1 ¼ cents, matching the contract high close of 494 1/2 and December 2027 corn pushed to new contract highs at 493 ¼. This strength may be due to the fertilizer concern and the prospect of reduced corn acres for the 2026-27 marketing year.
• USDA announced weekly corn export sales on Thursday morning. For the week ending March 19, USDA reported new corn sales of 1.218 MMT (47.9 mb). This total was within market expectations.  Total commitments for the marketing year have reached 2.711 billion bushels. The USDA export sale target is 3.3 billion bushels for the marketing year.
• The USDA will release the Prospective Planting report on Tuesday, March 31. Analyst estimates are for a total of 94.4 million acres for the 2026-27 crop. This is down 4.4 million acres from last year. Last year on the March planting report, the USDA forecasted corn acres at 94.3 million acres.
• The corn market will still be very concerned about global issues and the oil market. Crude oil traded 3-4% higher on Thursday. The strength likely supported the grain markets.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day higher but gave back a portion of their gains into the close. May soybeans met resistance at the 21-day moving average and have not been able to break above it since the limit-down move on March 16. Support in soybean oil came from stronger crude oil prices, up over $4.00 per barrel, along with optimism surrounding biofuel blending mandates.
• Higher soybean oil led the bean complex higher once again. May soybeans gained 2 cents to $11.73-3/4 while November gained 2-3/4 cents to $11.52-3/4. May soybean meal was up $2.30 to $322.10 while May soybean oil gained 0.92 cents to 68.02 cents, a gain of 1.37%.
• Today’s export sales report was better than expected for soybeans with an increase of 24.6 million bushels for 25/26 and an increase of 1.0 mb for 26/27. This was up noticeably from the previous week and up 89% from the prior 4-week average. Top buyers were China, Germany, and Mexico. Last week’s export shipments of 49.4 mb were above the 21.6 mb needed each week.
• On Friday, the White House will host its celebration of agriculture event, and there are rumors that biofuel blending mandates will be released by the EPA on that day or before. This has been very supportive to soybean oil but may be a “buy the rumor, sell the fact” situation as prices are already elevated.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat led the grain complex higher, as concerns grow over global fertilizer availability and expanding drought in the U.S. southern plains. There may have also been some technical buying interest today, following through after yesterday’s bullish key chart reversals. In the May contract, Chicago gained 7-1/4 cents to 605, Kansas City was up 9 cents at 626-3/4, and MIAX climbed 4-1/4 cents to 645.
• The USDA reported an increase of 14.6 mb of wheat export sales for 25/26, along with an increase of 7.6 mb for 26/27. Shipments last week totaled 14.1 mb, which falls under the 17.9 mb pace needed per week to reach the USDA’s 900 mb export goal. Wheat export commitments sit at 885 mb, up 15% from last year.
• U.S. wheat is still uncompetitive on the world market, which may limit rally potential. Reportedly, U.S. HRW wheat is at about a one-dollar premium compared to Russian hard wheat FOB export values.
• According to the USDA, as of March 24, an estimated 57% of U.S. winter wheat acres are experiencing drought conditions, up 2% from the week prior. Meanwhile, spring wheat area in drought held steady for the third week in a row, at 21%.
• A Reuters survey suggests that next week’s USDA report will show March 1 wheat stocks at 1.295 bb, up from 1.237 bb last year. Furthermore, all wheat acres are anticipated to fall by around 542,000 to 44.786 ma. Winter wheat acreage is expected to decline by 423,000 to 32.730 ma.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Spot powder finished another 1.50c higher to $1.9375/lb on Thursday. This marks the highest close for powder since 2014.
• Nearby Class IV contracts were up roughly 20c each, with two contracts closing above the $21.00 threshold.
• A cheese seller moved one load of blocks 2c below yesterday’s settlement down at $1.62/lb. This kept Class III a bit softer today.
• The Q3 and Q4 2026 Class III milk averages finished into new highs today.
• Several butter futures contracts closed green for the third day in a row as buyers return after the recent selloff.

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Author

Amanda Brill