The most active corn contract for May delivery rose 10.75 cents, or 1.46 percent, to settle at 7.4875 U.S. dollars per bushel. July wheat fell 21.25 cents, or 2.07 percent, to settle at 10.06 dollars per bushel. May soybean shed 45.75 cents, or 2.75 percent, to settle at 16.1825 dollars per bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) March Intentions Seeding Report was bullish for corn and wheat, and was bearish for soybeans.
U.S. 2022 corn seeding intentions were at 89.5 million acres, down 3.9 million acres from last year. U.S. soybean seeding was record large at 91.0 million acres, up 3.8 million acres from 2021. Chicago-based research company AgResource notes that it was not profit margins that determined U.S. intended 2022 soybean acres, but the high cost of crop inputs.
U.S. all wheat seeding rose by 700,000 acres to 47.4 million acres with winter wheat seeding rising to 34.2 million acres compared to 33.6 million acres last year. U.S. spring wheat intended acres fell 200,000 acres to 11.2 million acres with durum seeding rising 300,000 acres. The 500,000-acre drop in U.S. hard red spring (HRS) wheat seeding was the big surprise.
U.S. March 1 corn stocks were estimated at 7,850 million bushels, up 154 million bushels from last year, but down 35 million bushels from trade expectations. Amid the sizeable U.S. corn export program that is underway, U.S. 2021-2022 corn stocks are tightening and could dip near 1,050-1,100 million bushels. This would raise the upside price target for either May or July corn futures closer to 8.00 dollars.
U.S. March 1 soybean stocks were 1,931 million bushels, up 369 million bushels from last year. The stocks report is slightly bearish which could pressure July soybeans to 15.50-15.75 dollars support.
U.S. March 1 wheat stocks were 1,025 million bushels, down a hefty 286 million bushels from last year, and down 39 million bushels from trade expectations. The larger fall is related to greater feed use. U.S. March 1 wheat end stocks are the smallest in over a decade. AgResource maintains that December Kansas wheat should not fall too far below 10.00 dollars.
March 1 seeding surveys were only intentions and not the final that will be released in June, and the key point is that total U.S. cropped acres is not expanding which places additional importance on 2022 yield. AgResource stays bullish on grain, including soybeans amid record large oilseed demand.
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