Corn: May corn dropped 4 1/4 cents to $7.64 1/2 while December corn firmed 2 cents to $7.18 after posting a contract high. Corn futures initially traded higher on support from strong gains in the wheat market, but heavy selling in soybeans pulled corn off its highs. USDA announced a daily corn sale of 1.02 MMT to China. Late today, USDA reported 2% of the U.S. corn crop had been planted as of yesterday, unchanged from a week earlier and behind the 3% average for the previous five years.
Soybeans: May soybeans fell 33 3/4 cents to $16.55 1/4. May soymeal fell $9.10 to $459.10 per ton and May soyoil fell 82 points to 74.30 cents per pound. Nearby soybeans led the soy complex lower as heavy selling in Nymex crude oil pressured the soy complex. USDA reported 766,232 MT (28.2 million bu.) of soybeans inspected for export during the week ended April 7, up from 741,290 MT the previous week.
Wheat: May SRW wheat rose 29 3/4 cents to $10.81 1/4, a two-week high. May HRW wheat rose 34 3/4 cents to $11.41 1/2. May spring wheat rose 14 3/4 cents to $11.42. Prices rose amid ongoing concern over disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine war. U.S. winter wheat conditions improved slightly, with USDA rating 32% of the crop good-to-excellent as of yesterday, up from 30% a week earlier. When USDA’s weekly crop condition ratings are plugged into the weighted Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index (0 to 500-point scale, with 500 being perfect), the HRW crop improved 5.2 points to 277.8 and the SRW crop rose 3.2 points to 345.3. At those levels, the CCI ratings are still 52.1 points below the five-year average for HRW and 11.2 points below for the SRW crop.
Cotton: July cotton surged 239 points to 133.45 cents per pound, while December cotton rose 214 points to 117.62 cents per pound. Cotton futures rallied from two-week lows earlier in the day with support from a rally in wheat and other commodity markets. Dry conditions in key U.S. growing areas and a behind-schedule seeding pace also supported futures.
Cattle: June live cattle rose 97.5 cents to $134.80. May feeder cattle gained 52.5 cents to $159.90. Feeder cattle were initially pressured by strength in corn, which spilled over into live cattle. But as corn weakened late in the day, feeders turned mostly higher, spurring corrective buying in live cattle. Steady cash cattle prices are expected this week after live steers averaged $138.82 last week, a drop of 50 cents from the previous week. Choice cutout values rose $1.64 to $272.11, the highest in nearly two months. Movement was relatively light at 82 loads.
Hogs: June lean hogs rose 45 cents to $115.025, while April hogs fell 60 cents to $98.425. Hog futures were supported by light short-covering, though eroding cash fundamentals continued to weigh on the market. Tomorrow’s CME lean hog index (as of April 8) is projected down another 43 cents at $99.63, which would be the eighth day in a row of declines. Pork cutout values jumped $3.48 to $106.64, the highest daily average since March 31. Movement was relatively light at 254 loads.