E181: Latin America Worries in February WASDE

 The February WASDE dropped Thursday, February 8th, and despite being a relatively quiet report, still sent waves through commodity markets as USDA diverges from Brazilian officials in its estimate of Brazilian crops. The result– some confusion about the global corn stocks and some hope that Latin American competition might not be too fierce in 2024.  DTN’s Lead Markets Analyst Todd Hultman joins us today to offer his insight on the latest figures, as well as how a shifting global weather forecast, and rapidly evolving security situations on two continents, may affect ag markets in the month to come. We’ll dive into USDA’s perspective on export action, then dig into the ethanol and crush pictures in light of the complex global energy situation. Then we’ll check in on the wheat and livestock markets, with analysis on how the department is tracking wheat’s tough supply and demand picture and whether tightness in the cattle market will persist. We’ll talk through the current basis picture, concerns about the Chinese demand picture, and look ahead to what could influence prospective planting.