Grain prices end the day mixed. Thursday, April 7, 2022

May corn was up 1¼¢ with December corn up 4¼¢. May soybean futures were 26¢ higher with November beans up 22¼¢. May Chicago wheat closed down 18¼¢, May Kansas City wheat closed down 14¼¢, and May Minneapolis wheat closed down 9¼¢.

Livestock prices closed the day lower. Live cattle futures finished the day down 12¢ on the June contract, May feeder cattle closed down 47¢, and June lean hog futures closed the day 55¢ lower.

Crude oil is up 67¢ and the Dow futures were 87 points higher.

Corn futures shrugged off some early weakness and finished the day higher. Exports were decent this morning. Ethanol margins have slipped a bit here lately, but they seem to be still making a little money so demand remains pretty good.

Wheat futures found some selling pressure today. Some much-needed moisture is hitting parts of the southern wheat states providing some relief. With wheat crop ratings as low as they are, the moisture is very welcome, but they will need much more to produce a crop this year.

The USDA Crop Production report will be out tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT. We will get updated demand numbers for U.S. grain along with updated crop projections for South American corn and soybeans. World stock numbers will also be updated.

Join us for a free webinar on Wednesday, April 13, at 2 p.m. CT. We will look at spring and summer weather forecasts for the 2022 growing season.

At midday, May corn futures are down 2¢ with December corn futures unchanged. May soybean futures are 20¢ higher with November futures up 15¢ to 16¢. May Chicago wheat is 9¢ lower. May Kansas City wheat is 5¢ lower, and May Minneapolis wheat is 3¢ lower.

Livestock prices are higher with live cattle up 45¢. Feeder cattle are 57¢ higher, and lean hogs up 10¢ per hundred. Livestock markets are higher today. Lean hogs are potentially putting in a key reversal higher today. Hogs started off weak and traded as much as $1.55 lower but have since bounced back and are now 65¢ higher.

Crude oil is down $1.83 this morning, and the Dow futures are 180 points lower.

A typical prereport trade as traders position themselves for the USDA WASDE report out at 11:00 a.m. CT tomorrow. Weekly export sales for corn, soybeans, and wheat were all within trade expectations. Soybeans are getting a bit of a rally today as we see traders sell corn and buy soybeans getting that spread back more in line.

As bird flu in the U.S. spreads, we are hearing reports that 23 million birds have been affected so far. While these are difficult times for the poultry industry, the situation is friendly to beef and pork but a bit concerning for feed demand.

Join us for a free webinar on Wednesday, April 13, at 2 p.m. CT. We will look at spring and summer weather forecasts for the 2022 growing season.

May corn futures are 2¢ lower this morning. May soybean futures are 12¢ higher. May Chicago wheat is 6¢ lower. May Kansas City wheat futures are 5¢ lower, and May Minneapolis wheat futures are 1¢ lower.

Livestock prices are mixed this morning. Live cattle are 32¢ higher, feeder cattle are 45¢ higher, and lean hog futures are 35¢ lower.

Crude oil is up $1.25 this morning and the stock market is down 173 points to start off Thursday’s trade.

Weekly export sales released this morning were all within trade expectations. Corn saw net sales of 927,600 metric tons of both old crop and new crop combined. Soybeans saw combined old crop and new crop sales of 1,099,300 metric tons, and wheat saw a combined 379,300 metric tons of old-crop and new-crop sales this week. Demand still stays strong for U.S. grains.

Both beef and pork saw an uptick in export sales this week compared with last week. This is encouraging considering the negativity we have been talking about with COVID spreading across China and Japan.

Energy markets are bouncing back today after a decent sell-off yesterday. Other allies announced they are looking to release up to 60 million barrels of crude oil from their reserves to help curtail the higher energy prices.

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