On the Grains Grains are mostly firm in overnight trade to start the week. Weekend rains and snow are welcome in the northern stretches of the country and the market is ignoring fierce Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy grid and weekend reports of manpower strains on Ukraine's struggling military. Focus this week will be on trade positioning ahead of Thursday's Prospective Plantings Report and the March 1 Grain Stocks. Trade estimates are out. The guesstimates put forth at USDA's Outlook Forum last month are presumed to be what's "in the market", so of most interest is how the trade estimates compare to those. For corn, the average is 91.8 million acres, up 800K from the Forum numbers. Estimates range, however from 90 to 93.8 million. For soybeans, the trade average is 85.7 million, down 800K from the Forum number. The range of estimates, are even wider for beans from as low as 84.3 million to as high as 89 million. For wheat, all wheat is put at 47.3 million acres up 300,000 from the Forum estimate. There was no Forum estimate for spring wheat, but the trade estimate is down 300,000 acres from last year. Turning to Mar. 1 Grain…
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