Highlights
- The Senate is expected to vote on Tom Vilsack’s nomination by President Biden for the role of secretary of the USDA.
- The U.S. has now seen 500,000 deaths from Coronavirus, and global fatalities are nearing 2.5 million.
- Avian influenza has been spreading in Europe and Asia, leading to egg supply tightness in Poland where approximately 5 million birds have been culled.
- Cold Storage will be released at 2:00 PM Central today.
- First Notice Day for March grains and oilseeds in on Friday, February 26th.
- Outside markets as of 7:10 AM: April crude oil at $61.95 up $0.25; Gold at $1,808.6 up $1.90; Dow futures at 31,487 up 21 points; U.S. Dollar Index at 90.197 up 0.187 points.
Corn
- Corn traded higher overnight, following in the footsteps of soybeans. The September and December contracts continue to set fresh contract highs.
- Dr. C left both his Brazilian and Argentinian corn crop estimates unchanged at 105.0 million tons and 46.0 million tons respectively.
- Reports indicate that the U.S. will not act on any pending petitions from small refiners seeking exemptions from U.S. biofuel blending laws until a related case is reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Outlook: 1-3 cents higher.
Oilseeds
- Soybeans traded higher overnight, drawing strength from the slow harvest in Brazil coupled with rain in the forecast that will likely continue to slow harvest there.
- Dr. C left both his Brazilian and Argentinian soybean crop estimates unchanged at 130.0 million tons and 45.5 million tons respectively.
- Chinese soybeans were up 18 ½ cents overnight and settled at 5,914 yuan per ton.
- Malaysian palm oil was up 132 points and settled at 3,676 ringgits per ton.
Outlook: Higher to start the day.
Wheat
- The wheat markets were lower overnight, as the trade is still unsure how much damage has been done to the winter wheat crop with the recent cold snap.
- The monthly ratings for U.S. winter wheat conditions showed a decline in Kansas, the top U.S. producer, and mixed results in other states.
- The EU will likely see limited impact from their recent cold snaps, as many areas had adequate snow cover to protect crops from frost damage.
Outlook: Lower across all three classes.
