By Kirk Maltais

--Corn for May delivery rose 1.6% to $7.38 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday as peace talks fail to end a conflict threatening global grain supplies.

--Wheat for May delivery rose 1.3% to $10.27 1/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for May delivery rose 1.3% to $16.64 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Bullish Distrust: Cease-fire talks between Russia and Ukraine didn't appear close to reaching any kind of deal, with Russia stepping up efforts in the eastern portion of Ukraine and downplaying the progress of current negotiations. Traders saw yesterday's steep selling as a buying opportunity today. "We are wary of believing anything in regards to peace progress right now, given how far the parties are apart on what they expect to see at the end," said Richard Buttenshaw of Marex. "As suggested yesterday, any breaks on headlines look to be buying opportunities in corn and soy."

War Premium: With war continuing in Ukraine, traders added a risk premium to grains as spring planting season starts. "Russia is taking aim on energy and export facilities that will cripple the country's economy for months to come," said AgResource. "Questions abound on Ukraine infrastructure and how quickly that damaged ports could come back online."

Costly Feed: Egg producer Cal-Maine Foods reported that costs for animal feed surged in the past quarter. In the company's F3Q, feed costs increased over 20% per dozen of eggs produced. "Our results reflect the current inflationary environment with higher costs for feed, labor, packaging and delivery," Cal-Maine said, adding that its supplies of corn and soybeans were tight relative to demand. The company expects high volatility in feed prices tied to the Russia-Ukraine war and strong export demand.

INSIGHT

USDA Expectations: Tomorrow's reports from the USDA attracted attention today, with many traders getting positions in order ahead of both the quarterly stocks report and the prospective planting report. However, traders said that the USDA may have to issue numbers well outside of analyst expectations for any run-up in futures. "Given the high prices and the fund/spec length, I think the risk is to the downside if we don't get a bullish report," said Craig Turner of Daniels Trading. "Regardless, there is a lot of price risk to both sides tomorrow as we never know what the USDA will say."

Ethanol Demand: U.S. ethanol inventories rose to a level last seen in April 2020. The EIA said that for the week ended March 25 ethanol inventories totaled 26.5 million barrels, up from 26.2 million the week before and exceeding analyst forecasts. Daily production was reported at 1 million barrels per day.

AHEAD

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its quarterly grain stocks report at noon ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its annual Prospective Plantings report at noon ET Thursday.

--Paulo Trevisani contributed to this article.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-30-22 1612ET