Grains are the lower in morning trading:

Dec Corn – 8 cent/bu (5.78 ¾ )

Jan Soybeans – no changes cents/bu (12.54 ½)

Dec Chi Wheat – 7 ¾ cents/bu (8.17 ½)

Cdn $ 0.00200 (78.358 cents)

WTI Crude Oil 4.00/barrel (72.15)

Friday’s market move was a fear move. Very few facts were known about the new Covid-19 variant that is now known as Omicron. There’s still a lot that we do not know. The job of the markets over the coming days and weeks will be to assess whether Friday’s sell-off was justified, with perhaps more selling needed, or whether it was overdone, with a significant recovery needed. There is no questioning that there is a new variant. We know that. Omicron appears to be a rapid spreader as well, although that has not yet been confirmed. Yet, the ultimate question that must be answered is, how lethal is the new variant? The U.S. and global economy can survive quite well with a variant that has no more than mild symptoms, with very few deaths. That would put it on par with the influenza, or less. So far, that’s what the reports out of South Africa seem to indicate, although it is still too early to have a high degree of confidence in such an assessment.

‘21/22 Export Sales (000 tonnes):

This Week / Estimates / Last Week

Corn: 1429.1 / 750-1400 / 904.6

Beans: 1564.4 / 900-1800 / 1382.7

Wheat: 567.5 / 250-550 / 399.1