Grains ended mostly higher, cattle posted a strong day, with hogs mostly lower.
Wheat Leads the Grains
Wheat futures ended higher on Wednesday and took the leadership role in the grain complex according to Tommy Grisafi with Nesvick Trading.
Reports of fields of ice in Russia may have induced some weather premium being added to the wheat market on winter kill concerns.
However, he attributes it more to light short covering and weakness in the dollar index and after bouncing off key support Tuesday and lifting off the lower end of its currently established trading range.
Grisafi has also been hearing from many of his clients in North Dakota that they may not plant hard red spring wheat in 2026.The combination of near record high fertilizer prices and low wheat prices have made wheat an unattractive option.Plus, quality issues the last few years that have impacted falling numbers.
March SRW futures remain rangebound in recent weeks, with firm resistance at last week’s high close of $5.35 1/2, and initial support at the 10-day moving average of $5.29 1/2.
Corn Follows Wheat, Sees Bear Spreading
Corn futures ended mixed seeing some bear spreading but shed early weakness with the help of a higher day in crude oil, soybean and double digit gains in wheat according to Grisafi.
- Corn futures continued to digest USDA’s 100 million bu. increase in exports and subsequent cut in ending stocks.
- USDA announced the sale of 230,560 MT or 9.1 mb of corn to unknown destinations in 2025/26.
- The EIA report raised ethanol production by 154,000 barrels per day a rebound from an earlier week of extremely cold weather and winter storms. Ethanol inventory inched up from 25.1 to 25.2 million barrels.
- CONAB will release updated expectations on Brazilian corn production tomorrow, with analysts expecting a 1.3 MMT increase from the January estimate to 140.1 MMT, according to Bloomberg.
- March corn futures dropped below the 10-day moving average this morning, which offered initial support at $4.28 1/2. Support now exists at the psychological level of $4.25 as movement remains rangebound. Resistance exists at the 20-day moving average of $4.29 3/4 and at the 40-day moving average of $4.32 1/2.
