THURSDAY, March 12, 2026, 4:50 AM CST
MORNING MARKET COMMENTS BY BOB LINNEMAN
This is Kluis Commodity Advisors with your opening grain comments for Thursday, March 12, 2026. The grain complex traded into positive territory on Wednesday as crude oil worked higher throughout the day. There was a rumor on Wednesday that suggested the EPA is going to set the RVOs (Renewable Volume Obligations) at 5.4 billion gallons. Since January, we have seen estimates range from 5.2 up to 5.8 billion gallons. The official release from the EPA will be this month.
Traders are slightly concerned that the daily export sales reports have been very quiet the past few weeks. Could the weekly Export Sales report today fall short of estimates because of the war? In the overnight Globex trade, corn futures are up 4, soybean futures are up 10, and wheat futures are up 3 to 4 cents.
TO DO: There are no new recommendations at this time. Please keep all offers in place.
PRICE TARGETS: You can click here to review our current and updated price targets.
WHAT WE’RE THINKING: Renewed strength in the crude oil market on Wednesday and overnight has given the grain bulls another opportunity to push higher. At this pace, some contracts may test the Sunday night highs by Friday.
WHAT TO WATCH: The weekly USDA Export Sales report is due out this morning.
Negative numbers report canceled sales. Traders expect the following sales for the week ending March 5…
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
May Corn: The trading range is 5 cents; prices are up 4 at $4.65.
May Soybeans: The trading range is 13 cents; prices are up 10 at $12.24.
Wheat: CBOT wheat is up 4; Minneapolis wheat is up 4 and KC Wheat is up 3.
Global Stock Markets: The stock market in China is down 0.7%, Japanese stocks are down 1.0% and European stocks are down 0.1%.
Outside Markets: The US Dollar Index is up 0.05 at 99.31, crude oil is up $2.75 per barrel at $91.16, S&P futures are down 12 points at 6,757, Dow futures are down 155 points at 47,228, gold futures are up $9 at $5,193 and silver is up $1.24 at $87.19.
Livestock Futures: Livestock futures closed lower on Wednesday. April Lean Hogs closed down 87 cents at $95.20. April Live Cattle closed down $2.22 at $230.15. March Feeder Cattle closed down $4.62 at $348.72.
TODAY’S CHART: Soybeans
ABOUT THIS CHART: This is the weekly chart of May soybean futures. You can see the contract low for May 2026 soybeans was hit in December 2024 at $9.92, while the pink line indicates the contract high hit in November 2023 at $12.56. With the recent strength in the soybean market, we need to go back on the chart to find significant upside targets. When the March contract expires on Friday, the May contract will then become the front-month contract. On Monday, we will be able to use the continuation chart to determine the next significant technical target in addition to the $12.56 level. The momentum indicator (shown below the price chart) is at the highest (over bought) level seen for this contract.