Grain prices were in the red on Monday 3 April. Matif wheat for December closed at €261.50/t, down €1/t on Friday’s close of €262.50/t.

On Friday 31 March, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its prospective plantings report for 2023.

The highlights of that report show that corn, soya bean and wheat area are all expected to increase in 2023, while the cotton area is set to decline by approximately 18%.

Corn area for 2023 is forecast at 92 million acres, up 4% or 3.42 million acres from 2022. The report expects planting to be up or unchanged in 40 of the 48 estimating states.

Soya bean

Soya bean acreage is expected to rise only slightly to 87.5 million acres and is expected to be up or unchanged in 15 of the 29 estimating states.

Looking at wheat, the USDA has forecast a 9% increase across all wheat. This would bring the 2023 figure to 49.9 million acres.

Winter wheat area is up 13%, while spring wheat area is expected to be down 2% from 2022. Durum wheat area is expected to be up by 9% in 2023 at approximately 1.78 million tonnes.

Weather

Dry weather has affected some wheat crops in the US, particularly in Kansas - one of the biggest growers of the crop.

However, reports are suggesting that wet weather and snow could delay plantings in states such as the Dakotas and Minnesota.

In other news on grain markets, some EU farm organisations have said that Ukrainian grain should not have unrestricted access to EU markets, given that it is not farmed to the same regulatory standards.

They are calling for more checks to be carried out on this grain. Countries bordering Ukraine are seeing large amounts of grain enter their countries.

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