DTN Closing Grain Comments 02/27 13:50

DTN Closing Grain Comments 02/27 13:50 Tariff Concerns, USDA Ag Outlook Pressure Grain Markets Thursday After a whirlwind Wednesday which included widespread tariff confusion in the wake of President Trump's first cabinet meeting, President Trump clarified tariff intentions early Thursday by signaling the plan is still to go forward with a 25% tariff on both Canada and Mexico as well as an additional 10% tariff on imports from China. This led to a surge in the drifting U.S. Dollar Index furthering the pressure on collapsing wheat futures which again led the overall grain complex lower. Grain markets are also sorting through the 2025 USDA Ag Outlook Forum balance sheets for the 2025-26 crop year which included corn acreage expectations near the upper end of analyst expectations which along with a stout yield estimated pencils out to record corn production in 2025-26. Meanwhile, the soybean complex was stronger out of the gate Thursday, primarily to do with a moderately bullish 2025-26 outlook from the USDA which included the lowest acreage since 2020. However, as the session wore on and tariff concerns mounted, soybean futures faded lower as well. Rhett Montgomery DTN Lead Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: May corn closed down 12 1/2 cents and July corn was down 11 3/4 cents. May soybeans closed down 4 cents and July soybeans were down 4 1/4 cents. May KC wheat closed down 13 1/4 cents, May Chicago wheat was down 17 1/4 cents, May Minneapolis wheat was down 13 cents.