1. Soybeans Higher on Strong Sales, Lower Inventory Outlook; Grains Fall

Soybeans were higher overnight after a report from the Department of Agriculture showed increased demand for U.S. supplies.

Sales for delivery in the current marketing year totaled 455,900 metric tons in the week that ended on April 7, up 8% from the previous week and 10% from the prior four-week average, the USDA said in a report yesterday.

Earlier this week, the USDA indicated soybean inventories would come in at 445 million bushels, below a March estimate for 460 million bushels. The government said last month that it expects soybean seeding this year to decline slightly as growers plant more corn.

Corn prices fell despite strong export sales while wheat declined amid a global glut that likely won’t get smaller anytime soon.

Soybean futures for May delivery gained 2¢ to $9.50 a bushel. Soy meal futures added $2 to $292.10 per short ton, while soy oil fell 0.29¢ to 33.40¢ a pound.

Corn futures for May delivery declined 1¢ to $3.73 a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat futures for May delivery lost 2½¢ to $4.57¼ a bushel overnight in Chicago. Kansas City wheat fell 1¼¢ to $4.64½ a bushel.

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2. USDA Figures Dominate Trade as Long Week of Reports Rolls On

It’s been a long week with USDA reports dominating the trade, though it seems the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Economics (WASDE) Report oddly did not have an immediate impact on the markets.

WASDE, released on Tuesday, should have been bearish for corn and wheat, but prices rose the day of the report. While it took a day for traders to catch up and start selling corn and wheat due to a jump in supplies, they started acting like they actually cared about the USDA report on Thursday.

Yesterday’s Export Sales Report didn’t really hold any surprises, though it did show that demand for U.S. soybeans and corn is still fairly decent.

Exporters sold 455,900 metric tons of soybeans in the week through April 7, up 8% from the prior week and 10% from the previous four-week average, and 1.14 million metric tons of corn, up 20% from the prior week and 21% above the average. Both corn and soybean sales topped expectations.

Wheat was the laggard, and sales totaled 124,700 tons, which was on the low end of expectations but still up from last week’s marketing-year low.

It seems the weaker dollar, whose value earlier this week fell to the lowest level since October, is having some effect on demand for U.S. agricultural products.

The fun isn’t over, however, as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will send its weekly Commitment of Traders Report on Friday afternoon, which is alway entertaining.

The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) will release its monthly crush figures, which are expected to show domestic use of soybeans is on the rise. Traders are expecting NOPA to show about 155 million bushels of soybeans were crushed in March, up from the prior month.

Hopefully today's reports will be a positive end to the week.

Discuss the USDA Export Sales Report in Marketing Talk.

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3. Good News-Bad News For Southern Plains as Storm Brings Rain, Tornadoes

The good news for the Southern Plains is that a storm is expected to bring rain late today into the weekend. The bad news is that the storm also could bring hail and tornadoes.

It seems the Southern Plains can’t catch much of a break. At this point, though, any precipitation would be welcomed by hard red winter wheat growers in western Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.

The storm about to hit the area, however, could bring golf ball-size hail, damaging winds with gusts up to 65 miles an hour, and isolated tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service office in Amarillo, Texas.

The area needs rain badly, as right behind this storm system there's another round of dryness causing fire bans and so-called red-flag warnings in parts of New Mexico, NWS maps show. Little or no rain has fallen in the Southern Plains this year, leading some areas to fall into a moderate drought.

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