Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                                      Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      3/25/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

            Inspection reports showed ok numbers for corn at 42.2 myn bu, vs. 44.7 to stay on USDA track. Wheat registered 18.3 in shipments, beans were the big surprise at 26.2 myn bu v.s 9.3 needed to hit USDA mark (increased shipments from switches from Argie). None of it seems to hold much bearing on this market, which is solidly in the hands of the funds. Futures opened higher, then quickly went limit up where for now they are locked (corn up .20, beans up .50 and wheat up .90). Next Monday’s planting report should be interesting for a number of reasons: 1)limits are increased FRIDAY (If we keep trading limit up/ down we would be into expanded limits anyway, but the CME voted to expand NORMAL limits just ahead of this report. Friday’s trade could be very interesting to watch. typically OI increases AFTER the report…indicating there is more positioning based on the report, than speculation the report will say one thing or another. Latest best guess is that corn acreage will be 86.6 myn acres (1 myn acres TOO FEW), but March stocks are over 1 byn bu bigger than last year. Major food companies are seeing the need (where they can afford it) to use hedging strategies. General Mills reported over $151 myn in profits from hedging, Kellogg reported that they are 70% hedged for the coming year….while on the other hand: Tyson lost $500 myn, Pilgrims Pride lost $700 ($32 myn last ¼ alone). Latest hang up on the Farm Bill is disaster assistance…

            Crop ratings improved for HRW states. Tx is rated 16% G-Ex,  OK is 43  G-Ex, and Ks is 48% G-Ex. We will continue to watch these weekly. The weather man sez warmer/ drier weather in store for next week.

            A quick check ‘down under’ shows that the last 30 days: WA has received about ¼-1”, NSW/ Victoria about 1-2”. Their national climate center says WA (Western Aussie) has a 45-50% chance for above average rainfall over the next 30 days.

***Didja Know: The “Star Spangled Banner” didn’t become the national anthem till 1931? Ford Model T’s got 25 mpg? A large flawless emerald is worth more than a diamond of the same size? The “Selective Law of Gravity” states that a falling object will generally fall in such a way as to do the most damage. “Simon’s Law”: Everything put together sooner or later falls apart….