An overly cautious market let go of the tease that Russia might negotiate the exit of Ukrainian grain. Vladimir Putin cannot abide the UN’s wishes because it would betray his contention that it is Western sanctions that are causing the food security problem. There was also some positioning ahead of the long three-day weekend.  Soybeans were the leader today and remain ahead on the week even as wheat and corn retrench. 

U.S. farmers have picked up the planting pace, but there are still plenty of problems, most notably weather. There are drips of improvement, but overall weather is suboptimal in too many major exporter regions. Crops in southern Brazil are getting helpful rains but central Brazil remains parched as harvest...