Spillover strength supported corn futures Tuesday. The latest forecasts point to cool mid-April temperatures, but they also imply a stretch of dryness. That may allow farmers to take advantage of the dry spell and get lots of corn planted, which weighed upon prices late this morning. However, strength spilling over from the wheat and soy markets apparently pulled prices upward. May corn settled up 0.75 cent to $5.0375/bushel Tuesday afternoon, while December skidded 0.25 to $5.0325.

The bullish NOPA crush report boosted the soy complex. CBOT traders expected the monthly NOPA crush report to indicate vigorous domestic soy usage, but they did not anticipate the powerfully bullish result. Beans and the products proved very strong after the report’s release. May soybeans leapt 25.0 cents to $15.0125/bushel at Tuesday’s close, while May soyoil climbed 0.57 cents to 42.83 cents/pound, and May soymeal advanced $8.3 to $487.4/ton.

The wheat markets posted a big Tuesday surge. Russia still looks ready to take over Ukraine during the days and weeks just ahead. Traders obviously worry about the possibility of disruptions to the winter wheat harvest, spring wheat plantings and exports in that region. Relatively cold, dry weather over the central U.S. looks bullish as well. Wheat futures were mixed early Tuesday morning, but turned sharply higher as the day passed. May CBOT wheat futures jumped 23.0 cents to $7.0175/bushel as trading ended Tuesday, while May KCBT wheat futures soared 23.5 cents to $7.655, while May MWE futures vaulted 21.25 cents to $7.385.

Traders seemed to anticipate seasonal cattle/beef weakness. Although the cash cattle markets remained surprisingly firm last week, the industry is expecting a sizeable seasonal drop during the days and weeks ahead. That likely explains Tuesday’s slippage, although the fact that CME futures are already priced at large discounts probably limited the losses. June cattle futures dipped 0.47 cents to 135.42 cents/pound Tuesday afternoon, while December slumped 0.43 to 139.85. Meanwhile, May feeder cattle tumbled 0.65 cents to 179.77 cents/pound, and August lost 0.20 to 182.57.

Hog futures set back from early highs. Anticipation of seasonal strength is supporting the hog and pork complex at this point, especially with traders expecting production to fall far below year-ago levels during the next few weeks. The setback from early highs reflected morning signs of wholesale weakness. June hog futures closed 0.12 cents higher at 122.52 cents/pound in concluding Tuesday’s trading, while December fell 1.15 to 88.70.