May Corn +15 1/4 cents/bu (4.42)

May Soybeans -1 cents/bu (11.91 1/2)

May Chi Wheat +12 3/4 cents/bu (5.60 1/4)

CAD +0.00170 (73.915)

Crude Oil +1.65 (83.00)

Well, the elephant is now out of the room.... the USDA Report for Projected Plantings and Stocks has now come and gone. The surprise today was a bullish one, pushing corn and wheat to double-digit greens, and leaving beans neutral. Markets are closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday.

Despite the prevalence of this report, the report recap is quite concise.

1. March 1st U.S. corn stocks come in slightly smaller than analysts predicted (+13% from a year ago), soybeans a little higher (+9% from a year ago) and wheat higher (+16% from a year ago).Corn stocks could indicate that USDA is behind on increasing their feed, residual estimate and ethanol number.
2. Intended 2024 U.S. corn plantings land well below expectations (down 5 percent or 4.61 million acres from last year), but soybeans are right as expected (up 3 percent from last year or 2.91 million acres). Wheat was very close to expectations too (down 2.0 million acres from a year ago). One interesting thing to think about, is based on these numbers, the total of all principal crops is shown to have fallen by 6.3 million acres year-on-year.

December corn surged 3.4% (best single day since July) and hit its highest price ($4.81/bu) since Jan. 25. May corn closed above the 50-day moving average for the first time since October. July wheat surpassed the 8-month bear trendline in a pivot day, we will have to watch Monday to see if it holds.

New crop wheat is once again above $7, beans are above $15, and corn is close to $6. Do you have anything sold for new crop yet? Next week might be an opportunity to get some coverage, especially if we continue to rally. Scale up selling can help you to protect some of your downside risk. If you want to have some grain pricing orders working, reach out to me or Floyd to get them in the system!

Funds were thought to have been mixed today with corn and wheat buyers and soybeans a seller. Corn was expected to have bought 8,000 contracts (short 242,000), soybeans to have sold 1,000 contracts (short 135,000), and wheat to have bought 4,000 contracts (short 76,000).