Grains are lower at noon:

Corn -1 3/4 cents/bu  (Mar @ 5.32 1/2)

Soybeans -6 cents/bu (Mar @ 14.24 1/2)

Chi Wheat – 1/2 cents/bu (Mar @ 6.69 1/2)

Cdn $ -0.000440 (78.72 cents)

WTI Crude Oil -1.22/barrel (52.35)

The USDA announced a pair of flash sale this morning:

-110,000 tonnes of corn to Mexico for 2020/21 delivery

-318,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown in 2021/22

A soybean purchase of this size in January for the next marketing year is very uncommon. Due to the size of the purchase and historical data, it is assumed that this is a China purchase.

The Russian wheat export tax is not enough to keep wheat positive as all commodities seem to be easing risk-off into the US long weekend.

In international news, Brazil truckers are planning to go on strike in February over low wages and low freight costs.