Weekly grain report

Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse.

3/28/13: Well, that was a surprise! The USDA managed to find an additional 400 million bushels of corn in the bin than what was being expected, and that pulled the rug out from under the grain market. Chicago wheat futures closed down 49 cents, corn futures were locked limit down shortly after the report and will open with limits expanded to 60 cents on Sunday afternoon (happy Easter!). The acreage projections came in as expected, but it was the higher corn stocks number that did all the damage today. Portland exporters didn’t even bother bidding today. There are no markets this afternoon or Friday due to the Good Friday holiday.

4/1/13: Grain traders continued to pile on corn on Monday, pushing futures nearly down to their expanded limit of 60 cents before lifting a little into the close, ending down only 50 cents. Wheat followed corn lower, losing 23 on the day. Portland did not bump basis levels, allowing soft white prices to fall right along with Chicago futures. Additionally, European markets were on holiday today and could add more pressure on prices when they reopen overnight. Corn prices suffered their worst two-day loss since 1996 as the USDA stocks report from Thursday still looms over the market.