TOP STORIES:

Corn Futures Slide as Strong Planting Weather Mulled

Corn for May delivery fell 1.8% to $5.35 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, with grains traders anticipating good spring weather ahead enabling a large planting season for U.S. corn. Wheat for May delivery fell 1.5% to $6.56 a bushel. Soybeans for May delivery fell 0.4% to $14.07 1/4 a bushel.

"Corn was down ... on talk of good early planting weather and lack of fresh export demand, plus lower Argentine export premiums," said Charlie Sernatinger of ED&F Man Capital. A record 182 million acres of corn and soybeans is expected to be planted by farmers this year, although the USDA will update this figure with its Prospective Plantings report at the end of the month.

Chinese Grain Demand Fundamental-Based, ADM Says -- Market Talk

1435 ET - China's appetite for US grain exports isn't expected to evaporate any time soon, says Ray Young, executive vice president of Archer Daniels Midland. Speaking at a virtual conference Wednesday, Young says that the company sees China's appetite for US soybeans and corn as being based on need to use the commodities, not just simply stockpile them. "I think the reason China is buying agricultural products throughout the world is fundamental demand," says Young -- calling China's appetite a "medium-term" trend. The reason, Young says, is because China has escaped the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic while other areas like the US still grapple with it -- making China's demand stand out in front of others. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Bunge: Program In Brazil Will Monitor Soybeans from Indirect Supply Chain

Bunge Ltd. on Wednesday said it was launching a program to monitor soybean crops from its indirect supply chain in the Brazilian Cerrado.

The Bunge Sustainable Partnership "will help partners implement supply chain verification systems, including satellite and farm-scale images," the company said. Bunge also said "Dealers can adopt independent imaging services or use Bunge's geospatial monitoring structure at no cost."

STORIES OF INTEREST:

Kellogg, Enel Sign Agreement for Wind Power in North America

Kellogg Co. has signed a long-term power purchase agreement with Enel SpA's subsidiary Enel Green Power in North America for about 360 gigawatt hours of wind electricity a year.

The U.S. food maker said Wednesday that it will receive a portion of the electricity delivered to the grid from the Azure Sky wind-and-storage project in Texas. The portion will be equal to 50% of the volume of electricity used across its North American manufacturing facilities.

THE MARKETS:

Hog Futures Rebound on Cutout Demand -- Market Talk

1529 ET - After slumping for the past week, lean hog futures on the CME posted a 3% rebound, closing up to 87.925 cents per pound. The uptick comes as certain pork cutouts are seeing higher-than-usual demand as the spring season approaches. One such cutout is ham, which has gained 33% over the past month. "Fewer hams in the freezer, fewer business days to accumulate hams for Easter and robust export demand have bolstered ham prices so far," says Steiner Consulting Group. Meanwhile, live cattle futures finished trading today virtually unchanged, at $1.194 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-03-21 1739ET