Good morning,

Softer markets to open the week with corn down 10 and soybeans down 20.

Ukraine and Russia were preparing on Monday for the first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, with Kyiv insisting it would make no concessions on Ukraine’s territorial integrity as battlefield momentum has shifted in its favor.  Ukrainian officials have repeatedly suggested in recent weeks that they believe Russia could now be more willing to compromise, as any hope Moscow may have held of imposing a new government on Kyiv slipped away in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance and heavy Russian losses.

China’s financial hub of Shanghai launched a two-stage lockdown of its 26 million residents on Monday, closing bridges and tunnels, and restricting highway traffic in a scramble to contain surging COVID-19 cases.  Though still low by global standards, Shanghai recorded a record 3,450 asymptomatic COVID cases on Sunday, accounting for nearly 70% of the nationwide total, along with 50 symptomatic cases.

 

Private analyst expect Thursday’s Prospective Plantings report to show corn plantings at 92.001 million acres this season. That would be more than a million acres down from 2021 plantings of 93.357 million acres, if realized. Individual trade guesses ranged between 93.500 million and 89.700 million acres.  Analysts expect USDA to show 2022 soybean plantings at 88.727 million acres. That would be well above 2021 plantings of 87.195 million acres, if realized. Trade estimates showed a fairly broad spread, meantime, with guesses ranging from 86.000 million acres all the way up to 92.208 million acres.  All-wheat plantings at 47.771 million acres. That would be more than a million acres above last season’s tally of 46.703 million acres, if realized. The total is comprised of an estimated 34.382 million acres of winter wheat, plus another 11.801 million acres of spring wheat.

Producers should talk to their buyers and get sales locked in and firm offers in place for old and new crop corn ahead of Thursdays report. Limit higher and lower moves is not uncommon on this report especially given the other market movers we are dealing with this year.

 

Have a safe day!

 

Garry Gard

920-348-6844

ggard@didioninc.com