Grain prices end the day mixed. Wednesday, April 20, 2022

May corn was up 11 ¾ cents with December corn up 1 ½ cents. May soybean futures 30 ¼ cents higher with November beans up 9 cents. May Chicago wheat closed down 11 cents. May Kansas City wheat closed down 8 ¼ cents, and May Minneapolis wheat closed unchanged.

The bull spreads were in full force today on both corn and soybeans. With the weekly export sales report due out in the morning, will we get some new sales announced at 8 a.m. CT? Lately, the trade has been to buy any and all breaks even if they are shallow.

May options expire this Friday and then first notice day for the May futures will be Friday, April 29. Could this strength be a play to exercise some options and take the long/short positions into first notice day? Watch the spreads close.

Beef cash prices are called higher today and that has spilled into the beef complex pushing live cattle future higher. Live cattle futures finished the day up $2.05 on the June contract. May feeder cattle closed up $1.70.

June lean hog futures closed the day $2.57 lower. Lean hogs were disappointing as talk is the consolidation of the hog herds in China seem to be coming to an end. If this is true, we should see some export demand for U.S. pork pick up pretty soon.

If outside markets, crude oil ended the day higher after trading both sides. Crude oil is up 19 cents, and the Dow futures were 241 points higher. Crude oil seems to be consolidating before its next move. The stock market extended its rally to three days this week.

Watch the weather. Look for wet and cool conditions to carry us into May, but if the forecast should change, we will get the crop planted pretty fast.

Corn futures are fighting back with May again posting the strongest gains at 3 cents. July is ½ cent higher, while December corn is down 5 cents. The weakness in the crude oil market this week is putting pressure on the corn market.

The bull spreads are working not only in corn, but in soybeans as well with May soybeans up 12 cents and November down 2 cents at this hour.

Wheat prices are lower after a higher start. I will watch the USDA Weekly Export sales report on Thursday. We may start to see price rationing (demand destruction) in the wheat market where high wheat futures, the high U.S. dollar, and high transportation costs could reduce U.S. wheat exports. Was last week’s dismal wheat export sales a one-week blip or is it a trend that is starting to develop?

Corn and wheat prices have turned lower after a higher start. The news out this morning is minimal. Short-term, the wet cold weather in the U.S. should be supportive for corn. Long-term into early May, it looks like a pattern change.

At this time, May corn is down 4¢, and December 2022 corn is down 8¢.  May soybeans are up 6¢ while November soybeans are down 5¢. The bull spreads are working in the corn and soybean markets.

Tomorrow the USDA Export sales report is released, and I expect some large numbers for corn and soybeans.

The USDA showed corn planting progress at just 4% on the Monday Crop Progress report, and with cold, wet conditions continuing I look for slow planting progress again next Monday.

Wheat prices are under pressure with CBOT wheat down 21¢. KC wheat is 14¢ lower, and Minneapolis wheat is down 10¢.

The May Grain options go off on Friday, which often creates some extreme volatility.

In outside markets, crude oil is up 60¢ per barrel. The U.S. stock market is higher, and livestock futures are mixed on light volume at this hour.

Tags: corn, pork, prices, soybean futures, soybeans, Beef, wheat, live cattle futures, markets, feeder cattle