Soybeans were higher on end of the month technical buying and short covering, along with some outside market direction. The Dow was mixed for most of the day but the dollar was lower and gold and crude oil were higher. Near term supply and demand fundamentals look good and China bought 113,000 tons of 2010/11 U.S. beans ahead of the open. Still, contracts failed to break recent highs on the expected record South American soybean crop. Soybean oil hit new six week highs on the lower dollar, higher crude oil and technical buying. Meal was up following the lead of beans but gains were limited by product spread trade.

Corn was higher on fund and technical buying, in addition to spillover from the outside markets. Traders continue to be concerned about the potential for spring flooding in some areas of the Midwest, roughly from the Red River to Indiana and Ohio. There’s a large snowpack and the ground in many sections is already saturated. Still, there’s a while until widespread planting and fundamentals are pretty much negative due to the large available supply. Ethanol futures were higher.

The wheat complex was higher on technical buying, short covering and the lower dollar. Minneapolis picked up additional support from concerns over spring planting delays. However, there was no real fundamental backing for the gains with supply and demand outlook for wheat remaining very negative: the global supply is ample and U.S. wheat remains at a premium over competing origins. European wheat was mixed with May Paris down .2% on the higher Euro and May London up 1.6% on the lower Pound. Taiwan bought 41,000 tons of U.S. wheat for delivery in late March or early April. China’s Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief reports major wheat growing areas in northern China haven’t seen much of an impact from drought yet.