Grain and hog markets closed higher on April 21, with cattle futures ending lower, according to market analysis. Soybeans and soybean oil led the grain complex upward, with bean oil reaching a three-year high.
The movement in the markets is significant for farmers and agricultural professionals who rely on timely information about commodity prices. These trends can affect planting decisions, sales strategies, and overall farm profitability.
Mike Minor of Professional Ag Marketing said that soybean oil was influenced by crude oil prices and recent positive news regarding Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO). “That’s been feeding it for quite some time. And then tied along with today’s obvious crude oil move higher, it looks like Trump’s ceasefire probably won’t get extended. So a little bit of that got traded today on the soybean oil side, I would argue,” he said. Minor also described a technical breakout in new crop November soybeans: “We were building in a wedge pattern lately and we kind of broke and slingshotted out of that thing today…it looks like that was a pretty good up move there.” July soybeans encountered resistance near $11.91 per bushel.
Corn futures followed gains in soybeans but have also responded to wheat price movements in recent sessions. “I feel like corn has been playing follow the leader…with soybeans being up 10 most of the day today, it wanted to be up a couple cents as well,” Minor said. He added that spreads have rallied due to factors such as fund activity, rising crude oil prices, inflation hedging, and old crop balance sheets.
Planting progress nationally was reported at 7% ahead of normal for soybeans and 2% ahead for corn; however, wet conditions have delayed planting in Iowa and neighboring states. Wheat ratings dropped by four percentage points nationally to 30% good-to-excellent after frost damage affected crops in some areas.
Cattle futures fell due to technical selling and concerns over potential border reopening to Mexican cattle but remain supported by strong fundamentals such as low slaughter rates. Lean hogs rose for a second day on short covering after opening higher in June contracts.
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