CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Friendly tariff news helped bring buyers into the corn market on Thursday as prices finished with moderately strong gains. It has been a volatile week in the corn market, and the May contract is going into the end of the week still down 5 ½ cents on the week, but 22 cents off the low for the week.
• President Trump announced that tariffs that were to be placed on goods from Mexico would be delayed until April 2 as negotiations between the US and Mexico have shown progress. Other tariffs that have been placed on Canada and China will remain intact at this point. The announcement provided buying strength on the session as Mexico is the top importer of U.S. corn.
• The USDA released weekly export sales on Thursday morning. For the week ending February 27, U.S. exporters posted new sales of 909,000 MT (35.8 mb) Total export sales are still trending 26% ahead of last year, but that gap has been narrowing in recent weeks and export sales have slowed with higher corn prices and reduced concern for upcoming South American crops. Sales totals are still trending ahead of the pace needed to reach the USDA targets for the marketing year.
• The U.S. Dollar Index maintains its downward path, trading lower for the 4th consecutive day. The lower U.S. dollar should help improve the competitiveness of U.S. corn on the global market.
• December ‘25 corn futures are struggling to push through the 450 level. The prospects of increased planted acreage and a possible slower demand tone for the second half of the market year are limiting the strength in new crop corn prices.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans were higher to end the day for the second consecutive day and the May contract has gained 36-1/4 cents since Tuesday’s low. In addition, stochastics now shows a crossover buy signal which could trigger further buying. Both soybean meal and oil ended the day higher as well.
• The bullish momentum today came from an announcement from President Trump that he would lift tariffs on most goods from China for 4 weeks due to economic fears from a trade war. While this news is fundamentally more friendly for corn, the market reacted positively for soybeans as well.
• Today’s export sales report was on the low end of trade expectations at 13.0 million bushels for 24/25 and 2.0 mb for 25/26. This was below last week’s and last year’s numbers. Export shipments of 29.1 mb were above the 16.8 mb needed each week. Primary destinations were to China, Germany, and Egypt.
• Soybean oil exports were supportive today as well and were the largest since the beginning of January at 54,800 metric tons. This report did not include a sale of 60,000 mt of bean oil sales since last Friday, and demand has improved with other veg oils like palm oil at higher prices.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat continued its recovery across all three classes today, with the key headline being President Trump’s announcement that tariffs on certain imports from Mexico would be delayed until early April. This development suggests ongoing cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico, as a recent phone call between the two presidents was described as “constructive”.
• The USDA reported an increase of 12.4 mb of wheat export sales for 24/25 as well as an increase of 2.8 mb for 25/26. Shipments last week at 14.0 mb fell under the 20.7 mb pace needed per week to reach their export goal of 850 mb. Total wheat sales commitments for 24/25 are up 10% from last year at 746 mb.
• The U.S. Dollar Index declined early in the day but rebounded by the time the grain markets closed, finishing only slightly negative. The renewed strength in the dollar may help explain why wheat ended the day 10-12 cents off its daily highs.
• According to the USDA as of March 4, an estimated 24% of U.S. winter wheat acres are experiencing drought conditions. This is up 2% from the week prior and well above 15% last year. The amount of spring wheat area in drought was held steady with last week, however, at 39%.
• HB4 wheat, developed by Bioceres Crop Solutions Corporation, is said to have received approval in the U.S. for one of four patents. This bio-engineered variety of wheat is bred to be more tolerant of drought and also allow for better weed management. Furthermore, the technology was already approved by the USDA for farming and by the FDA for feed and food usage.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III futures were lower in the months of April through July, but were unchanged or higher in the six months proceeding July.
• Spot cheese lost 1.875 cents to move to $1.64125/lb, entering Friday down 13.625 cents on the week. Spot whey was unchanged today.
• Class IV futures were either even with Wednesday’s close or lower once again. April lost 9 cents to move to $18.25.
• Butter was 1.75 cents higher to move back to $2.30/lb. Spot powder fell 1.25 cents to $1.1675/lb, its lowest level in 10 months.

Total Farm Marketing and TFM refer to Stewart-Peterson Group Inc., Stewart-Peterson Inc., and SP Risk Services LLC. Stewart-Peterson Group Inc. is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as an introducing broker and is a member of the National Futures Association. Stewart-Peterson Inc. is a publishing company. SP Risk Services LLC is an insurance agency. A customer may have relationships with all three companies. TFM Market Updates is a service of Stewart-Peterson Inc. Futures and options trading involve significant risk of loss and may not be suitable for everyone. Therefore, carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your financial condition.

Author

Amanda Brill