-USDA new crop acreage ideas mostly in line with expectations – corn a touch low
-Brazil soybean harvest/corn planting delays mount
-USDA Cattle on Feed report Friday
-Some rains added to Argentine forecast
 USDA’s initial look at the 2021/22 situation at the Ag Outlook Forum this morning included acreage and average farm price
expectations. They put new crop corn acres at 92.0 million acres vs 90.8 million last year, soybeans at 90.0 million vs 83.1
million last year and all wheat at 45.0 million vs 44.3 million last year. Wire service-reported average expectations were 92.9
million corn, 89.8 million soybeans and 45.3 million corn. For details on this morning’s released info, as well as a historical
comparison of the USDA’s February acreage and price estimates to final figures, please see our Market Insights post at
https://portal.rjobrien.com/MarketInsights/Blog/Read/42983.
 Brazilian ag exporter association ANEC now sees soybean exports from the country in February anywhere from 6.0-8.0 MMT vs previous expectations of 7.6 MMT and compares to last year’s February soybean exports of 4.834 MMT and January’s minimal 50k tonnes. ANEC now sees February Brazilian corn exports at 545k tonnes (535k previously) and compares to 2.550 MMT exported in January and 339k tonnes last year Feb.
 Brazil’s safrinha corn crop is still only 8% planted 4% last week, 32% last year and 37% average. The soybean crop is 7%
harvested vs 3% last week, 23% last year and 20% average. Mato Grosso is now 22% harvested vs 45% average and 59% last
year.
ï‚· Friday afternoon, USDA will release the monthly Cattle on Feed report. The average estimate of Cattle on Feed as of Feb 1 is
100.8% of last year (99.6-101.1 range of ideas) and compares to 100.1% as of Jan 1. The average estimate of January
placements is 99.8 (95.1-103.0 range) vs 100.8 in December, while January marketings are estimated at 95.1 (94.3-98.4 range)
vs 101.0 in December.
 There was a bit of a pick-up in export tender activity overnight, particularly for wheat following yesterday’s price pullback.
Pakistan tendered for 300k tonnes with offers due by March 2, while Tunisia tendered for 100k tonnes of soft wheat, 92k tonnes durum and 100k tonnes barley with shipment periods from March 15-April 25. Offers are due by tomorrow. South Korea bought 55k tonnes of optional-origin feed wheat at $309.38/tonne c&f for July 10 arrival.
 Export Sales will be released on Friday this week due to Monday’s holiday.
ï‚· There were no USDA sales announcements this morning. China is back from the Lunar New Year holiday so the market will be keeping an eye out for sales notices in the coming days.
Weather
Rains of .30-1†fell across most of Mato Grosso, Goias, MGDS and Sao Paulo yesterday, with conditions mainly dry across other growing areas. No major changes in the forecast. Rains of 2-4†are expected in most of Mato Grosso, Goias and Minas Gerais over the next five days, with .25-.75†in RGDS, while other areas are mainly dry. Widespread 1-2†rains are expected in nearly all growing regions in the 6-10 day period. In Argentina, rains of .25-.75†fell across northern La Pampa and southern Cordoba yesterday, while other areas were dry. Changes to the forecast now indicate .25-.75†for most growing regions in the next 5 days. The 6-10 day period still shows generally less than .50†with coverage of around 75%.