Grain prices end the day mixed. Thursday, April 21, 2022

May corn was down 16½¢ with December corn down 9¾¢. May soybean futures were 1½¢ higher with November beans up 2¼¢. May Chicago wheat closed down 20¢, May Kansas City wheat closed down 25½¢, and May Minneapolis wheat closed down 18¢.

Wheat markets were under pressure. Talk of Russia possibly exporting more wheat than once thought caused wheat futures to take a step back. Southern wheat Plains states are on deck to get some helpful moisture, but as dry as they are, they’ll need a lot more rain.

Corn futures mainly followed wheat. Export sales were at the bottom end and with the U.S. dollar over 100, one has to wonder how competitive our country is right now. Soybeans did shrug off some early weakness and finished out the day higher across the board.

Livestock prices closed the day mixed. Live cattle futures finished the day up $1.27 on the June contract, May feeder cattle closed up $2.37, and June lean hog futures closed the day $1.57 lower.

Crude oil is up $1.64. Crude oil, after its early-week correction, ended the day higher and looks to head back toward resistance up around $108.

Stock market tried to rally for the third day in a row this week but reversed and closed out the day lower. The Dow futures were 368 points lower.

May corn futures are down 13¢ to 14¢ at midday with December corn futures down 9¢ to 10¢.

May soybean futures are 10¢ lower with November futures down 3¢. New-crop soybean futures are lower but well off their lows. The weekly export sales report this week showed a good week for new-crop soybeans being bought. The U.S. is getting a good book of new-crop soybeans sold for the upcoming marketing year.

May Chicago wheat is 16¢ lower. May Kansas City wheat is 14¢ lower, and May Minneapolis is 2¢ lower.

Spring wheat futures did trade positive for a bit as North Dakota, Montana, and northern Minnesota brace for another snowstorm this weekend. This will push back seeding of spring wheat another week.

Live cattle, which are up 75¢, are pushing higher from the technical breakout to the upside we saw yesterday. At 95¢ higher, feeder cattle are finding support as nearby corn futures are under pressure and the selling continues in the pork complex. Lean hogs are down $1.40 per hundred.

Crude oil is up $1.29 this morning; the Dow futures are 136 points higher.

May corn futures are 8¢ to 9¢ lower, and May soybean futures are 14¢ to 15¢ lower. May Chicago wheat is 8¢ lower. May Kansas City wheat futures are 10¢ lower, and May Minneapolis wheat futures are 2¢ lower.

Livestock prices are higher this morning. Live cattle are 40¢ higher; feeder cattle are $1.15 higher. Lean hog futures are 25¢ higher. Live cattle yesterday had a very good trading day breaking out above recent resistance. Low numbers and strong demand are pushing beef prices higher. Pork, on the other hand, is not finding many friends. Exports this week were slow due to COVID spreading in China and a high U.S. dollar.

Crude oil is up $1.80 this morning and the stock market is up 280 points to start off Thursday’s trade.

The weekly export sales report came out this morning. While it was pretty good for soybean exports, it was disappointing for corn and wheat. Higher prices and a strong U.S. dollar are the main drivers to the slower-than-expected exports this week.

Fundamentals are still supportive, but we need to feed the market some new information soon, or we could see a correction.

Weather forecasts do look to open up and give the U.S. producer a shot at planting crops in early May. With the equipment we have these days, the crop can be planted quickly.

Tags: markets, livestock prices, feeder cattle, corn, soybean futures, wheat, lean hog, futures, live cattle