Grains and hogs close mostly lower on Wednesday with fresh highs in cattle.
Kent Beadle with Paradigm Futures says the risk off attitude on trade uncertainty and upcoming USDA reports continues to keep pressure on the grain markets.
The one exception was old crop corn where bull spreads indicated commercial buying and strong demand.
That has been backed by strong export sales with expectations of a good weekly export total on Thursday.
The ethanol production report was also bullish at 1.105 million barrels, up 43,000 barrels from the previous week, and a 6 week high. That figure was up 4.2% from last year.
Stocks were estimated at 26.58 million, down 801,000 barrels from the previous week.
Estimates and surveys started to drop in preparation for the USDA Prospective Plantings Report on March 31 with both S & P Global and Allendale confirming the trend of more corn and less soybeans being seeded in 2025.
Corn acreage estimates from private sources and USDA are so far at or above 94 million, with soybeans from 83 to slightly above 84 million.
Wheat futures also saw some weather premium being removed with the winter storm bringing snow to some of the dry areas of the winter wheat belt of Kansas and Nebraska.
The wheat market had also hit resistance levels on the charts and may have seen some pressure from a higher dollar index.
Live cattle futures made for the high moves on Wednesday, with feeder cattle hitting all-time highs...again.
The market has been supported by the winter weather, which is hurting performance and has caused a handful of processing plants to slow or halt operations as confirmed by the daily slaughter at only 96,000 head.
However, the market is also seeing buying on bullish expectations for Friday’s USDA Cattle on Feed Report and strong boxed beef values.
Plus, feeder futures got a push as the feeder cattle cash index hit a record high of $283.27.
The stock market also saw some recovery with the FOMC meeting ending and interest rates remaining unchanged which have played favorably for the cattle market.
Lean hog futures were lower for a third day on profit taking and could see more consolidation ahead.
Beadle says this is the seasonal time of year when the market starts to see some pressure.
