Market Report: Corn and Beans Higher

Corn managed to close 2-3 cents higher today. The march Supply Demand Report is history and now traders are focusing on demand and acres for this growing season. The general thought is we will have fewer corn acres this year. The question is how many? In the weekly ethanol production report production was up 13,000 barrels per day to 944,000 barrels per day. Also friendly is that ethanol stocks declined by 355,000 barrels per day coming in at 21.17 million barrels. Ethanol demand should remain strong with the spring and summer driving season approaching. On the negative side, the dollar index was up quite a bit again today.

Soybeans closed 6-8 cents higher today. The South American harvest is moving along but not without some issues. Farmers in Argentina went on a three-day strike and refused to sell any beans, and there is more talk about truckers in Brazil striking again. I also heard that there are ships in the ports and some will be waiting 80 days before they can be loaded with beans. Private consultant Allendale projected soybean acres in the United States this year will be up 2.351 million acres to 86.05 million.