By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
May corn closed up 3 1/2 cents and July corn was up 2 3/4 cents. May soybeans closed up 9 3/4 cents and July soybeans were up 9 1/4 cents. May KC wheat closed down 2 3/4 cents, May Chicago wheat was down 3 1/2 cents, May Minneapolis wheat was up 1 1/2 cents.
What began as another mixed and dull trade for Wednesday saw soybeans again gain bullish favor by late morning, shaking off overnight lows for the third time this week and very close to challenging November highs on the May contract. Corn futures were also able to move higher for the third time in the past four sessions and back among the highs of the year thus far. Meanwhile, wheat futures continue to slide on profit-taking directly tied to simmering geopolitical concerns ahead of Thursday's continuation of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Along those lines, crude oil futures were lower for the third straight session, but remain among the highs of 2026 with risk premium baked in. Equity markets continued their recovery of Monday's losses and treasuries were quietly lower.
LIVESTOCK:
Although we still haven't heard whether or not there will be a union strike at the JBS plant in Greeley, Colorado, traders seemed comfortable advancing the live cattle contracts Wednesday. Still no cash cattle trade has developed and it's most likely trade will be delayed until Friday. If a plant strike does happen in Colorado, then there's a chance prices may trade steady as opposed to higher as not as many cattle would be needed in the immediate future. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.92 ($379.35) and select up $0.75 ($366.76) with a movement of 59 loads (34.16 loads of choice, 4.69 loads of select, 8.08 loads of trim and 11.88 loads of ground beef).
Upon seeing the live cattle complex step out and comfortably trade higher, the feeder cattle contracts were logging a sizeable rally ahead of Wednesday's noon hour. Nothing sent the live cattle contracts tumbling lower, the feeder cattle contracts were able to sustain the bulk of their rally into Wednesday's closing bell.
The lean hog complex continued to trade higher, keeping with what is now a seven-day rally as traders continue to drive the market higher upon the technical interest they've recently found. It's been interesting to watch the market's fundamentals play out over the last seven trading days as pork cutout values have been mostly mixed, but packer interest in the cash market has been better.