THURSDAY, March 19, 2026, 4:50 AM CST
MORNING MARKET COMMENTS BY BOB LINNEMAN
This is Kluis Commodity Advisors with your opening grain comments for Thursday, March 19, 2026. Grain prices rebounded Wednesday after etching in important short-term low on Tuesday. Traders will be watching the Tuesday low closely. A break to new lows would likely trigger further long liquidation. Wheat was up double-digits, since the weather for the next week is dry in the southern plains of the US. If the forecast remains dry for the rest of the month, we could see wheat futures continue to climb.
Some analysts think we could see China step in and buy US grain–and not just soybeans. If this were to be part of the headlines in coming weeks (as we approach the newly rescheduled meeting between the leaders of China and the US), then it could continue to push prices higher. In the overnight Globex trade, corn futures are up 4, soybean futures are up 3, and wheat futures are up 5 to 9 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: Yesterday there were two private firms that released acreage predictions for the month-end USDA Prospective Plantings report. Corn acres ranged from 93.7 to 95.2 million while soybeans ranged from 85 to 85.7 million acres. The soybean-to-corn ratio is 2.33 this morning; the ratio last year at this time was 2.24. (Below 2.40 favors more corn acres.) We will continue to see more estimates in the coming days.
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 12…
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
May Corn: The trading range is 6 cents; prices are up 4 at $4.67.
May Soybeans: The trading range is 13 cents; prices are up 3 at $11.67.
Wheat: CBOT wheat is up 6; Minneapolis wheat is up 9 and KC Wheat is up 5.
Global Stock Markets: The stock market in China is down 2.0%, Japanese stocks are down 3.4% and European stocks are down 2.0%.
Outside Markets: The US Dollar Index is down 0.17 at 99.88, crude oil is down $3.82 per barrel at $95.23, S&P futures are up 9 points at 6,673, Dow futures are up 125 points at 46,530, gold futures are down 115 at $4,708 and silver is down $3.80 at $71.63.
Livestock Futures: Livestock futures closed mixed on Wednesday. April Lean Hogs closed up 2 cents at $93.75. April Live Cattle closed up 17 cents at $235.40. April Feeder Cattle closed down 97 cents at $353.82.
TODAY’S CHART: Corn
ABOUT THIS CHART: This is the weekly continuation chart of corn futures. You can see the 50-cent rally over the past month has put the front-month contract at levels similar to late April 2025 and May 2024. If the bulls are able to keep pushing higher, then the next upside targets would be the April 2025 high ($4.91) and then the February 2025 high ($5.14). Momentum indicators (below the price chart) still favor the bulls, suggesting we could see the rally last a little longer. The month-end acreage report and war headlines are the two most important items to be watched in the short term.
NEWS AND EVENTS:
It’s that time again! DEADLINE, Monday, March 23.
Before the big quarterly USDA reports are released on Tuesday, March 31, we are doing our own Planting Intentions Survey for 2026.
Please complete the survey, reporting your intended planted acres for 2026, actual planted acres for 2025, and prevent plant acres from 2025. We value your feedback! Everyone who fills in the survey form will then receive the survey results, and our summary of the insights we gain from the numbers.
The deadline to complete the survey is noon, Monday, March 23. We will assemble and analyze the data and send out an email with our results and any potential trade recommendations on Thursday, March 26. Thank you for your participation!
Note: The results/summary of this survey and any trade recommendations will only be emailed to those Kluis customers that participate in this survey. We will not disclose your individual data to anyone outside the office. Please do not forward the results of the survey.