Grains close on the downswing | February 15, 2024

The USDA numbers started to come out today, and as expected, USDA came out with some very large yield projections. This and overall non-threatening weather put pressure on the grain markets with corn and wheat closing at new contract lows. Nearby soybeans closed below key support at $11.70 the next major support is now at $10.90. 

At the close, corn futures closed 6¢ lower, futures closed 8¢ to 10¢ lower. Wheat closed 5¢ to 18¢ lower. 

It is worth noting that the bull spreads are starting to pull in in the corn and soybean markets even though futures continue lower. 

In the outside markets, the U.S. dollar is moving lower, the U.S. stock market higher and energy prices were higher.

In the livestock markets on Thursday. April hogs closed 47¢ higher at $85.00, April cattle closed up $1.60 at $185.60 and March Feeder cattle closed up 87¢ at $247.10. 

Now the focus is back on weather in Brazil and what number prices have to fall to in order to stimulate more demand.

9:30 a.m.: Corn down 2¢

The grain markets are all lower after trading higher in right at about 8:30 a.m. USDA came out with their yield projections and as expected they are large. They project corn yield at 181 bushels per acre, for soybeans a record of 52 bushels per acre. A lot of this is built in but it is still long term negative if it proves to be correct. 

At this hour, corn futures are 2¢ lower, soybean futures are 6¢ lower, and winter wheat futures are 3¢ to 4¢ lower. Spring wheat is 2 to 3¢ higher. 

In the outside markets the U.S. dollar is down 0.29 points, the S&P 500 is up 2 points, the Dow is up 145 points, and energy prices are higher. I hope that when Asia comes back from the Lunar New Year celebration, they will see some bargains and start buying. 

In the livestock markets today, April hogs are up 62¢, April cattle are down 17¢, and March Feeder cattle are down 95¢.

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About the Author: Al Kluis has been a commodity advisor and broker since 1976. Kluis is an introducing broker with Wedbush Futures and writes a column, Your Profit, which appears in every issue of Successful Farming magazine. Kluis has published two books on commodities trading and is commonly quoted in major publications including the Wall Street Journal. He is also a featured speaker at commodity conferences nationwide. Kluis is a frequent market analyst for the Linder Farm Radio News Network. A Minnesota farm boy, Kluis was awarded his degree in ag economics from the University of Minnesota in 1974, after which he was executive director of the Minnesota Soybean Association before entering the markets full-time. His family still farms in southwest Minnesota, and Kluis enjoys helping with fieldwork when the markets allow.