The corn balance sheets that were released this month were less friendly to prices than the trade had been expecting. 

The U.S. corn carryout was trimmed a mere 50 million bushels to 1.5 billion bushels total. The trade was expecting to see ending stocks trimmed by at least 170 million bushels. The entire reduction came from elevated exports. 

The USDA is now predicting an average U.S. cash corn value of $4.30 this year, a 10-cent increase from January. 

Only minimal changes were made to the U.S. soybean balance sheets. Ending stocks decreased 20 million bushels to reflect the ongoing export demand we are seeing. This will give the United States a pipeline minimal carryout of 120 million bushels. 

While very thin, this total was on the high side of pre-report estimates. The USDA left the average U.S. soybean cash value unchanged at $11.15. 

The USDA left its wheat carryout estimate unchanged at 836 million bushels, which was in the middle of trade guesses. There are thoughts this number will decrease, though, given recent weather and the...