Markets Lower Monday

Corn closed out February with losses of 1-3 cents. It was another disappointing day as corn was firmer in the overnight session. It's more bad news for corn growers because we will not have very good guarantee with crop insurance this year. Remember, the spring price for crop insurance is set in February. It is the average close for December Futures. Last year our spring price was $4.15 a bushel and this year it is $3.50. Export Loadings were kind of on pace at 737,602 MT. Year to date Export Loadings are 14.76 MMT, which is about 20 percent behind last year's pace.

Beans closed 2-3 cents lower Monday. Beans, too, were firmer in the overnight session but could not hold during the day session. The spring crop insurance price for beans is set during February, too. It is the average price of November futures. This year our price will be $8.86 a bushel, almost a dollar a bushel lower than last year's price of $9.73. Export Loadings for beans had a good number at a little over 1MMT. Maybe now that the calendar was flipped to March we can see a rally?