Oil Shock and New USDA Data Leave Grains Mixed as Cattle Cash Jumps

Overview

• Grain futures finished Thursday with corn little changed, wheat slightly higher, and soybeans modestly lower after crude oil surged about $12 following President Trump’s address the night before.
• USDA’s weekly report showed strong corn demand with 1.15 million metric tons sold for the current year, while new‑crop sales totaled 102,609 tons, all to Mexico.
• Soybean exports booked 353,259 tons for the week as processors reported a February crush of 214.2 million bushels, which included a record daily pace of 7.65 million bushels.
• Wheat sales sank to a marketing‑year low at 23,521 tons, though separate Census data showed February wheat shipments of 1.94 million tons, the highest for that month in six years.
• Cash cattle traded at about $245 per hundredweight, roughly $10 higher than last week, lifting futures, while hog contracts eased even as weekly pork sales reached a calendar‑year high of 53,049 tons.