2/17/2021

Corn and beans were both slightly higher for most of the overnight but faded going into the morning break.  Overall, today, there was limited fresh news to spark any general buying interest.  Corn was able to trade 1-2 higher for most of the day on support from strong energy and crude oil markets.  Weather has also offered some support to the corn market this week.  Forecasts show Argentina returning to a dry pattern over the next week and the widespread cold in the US has limited grain movement over the past 10 days.  Soybean trade was weaker today with conditions in Brazil mostly favorable.  As a whole, Brazil soybean harvest is still slower than normal (8% harvested vs 20% avg) but the combines in Brazil are rolling and their harvest continues to grow.  The wheat sector gave back most of yesterday's big gains with most traders skeptical to the extent of the winter wheat crop damage in the US.  Overall, the US economy is showing signs of improvement which will provide some underlying support to the commodities.  The US drought monitor has not changed much over the past couple months and will continue to play a bigger role in the markets as we move closer to planting.