Grains trade soft throughout the entire night session.

Grain futures are lower this morning along with the rest of the investment world as most commodities are lower while the US dollar researches to near 104.00 after yesterday's CPI data. Yesterday’s slightly stronger numbers than estimated Imply that the Federal Reserve will be forced to stay firm in its interest rate increase regiment.

Harvesting in Brazil is moving full steam ahead, and the northern state of Mato Grosso is likely to achieve harvest completion of near 70% by the end of the week. Prices in Brazil continue to soften and are well over $1.00 below US pricing.

Crude oil has found resistance at 80.00, and today will see another DOE number that estimates could imply another building of inventories for the sixth of US crude and gasoline. Ethanol production is likely stagnant until spring.

Showers and thunderstorms will start to end today in Northern Argentina, and yesterday had seen coverage of 20% of nearly 1.00”. Widely scattered showers are anticipated in Central and Northern Argentina for the next 18 hours before the cold front pushes northward. What follows is now a lengthy period of dry/cool weather that can last into February 25, with a chance of some heat arriving on February 23 which will have temperatures back into the 90s. There is another chance of rain starting to show up in the 11-15 day window on the euro model, which is typically the more accurate one as of late.

Cattle checked early week gains yesterday, awaiting the building of cash trade, while box beef had seen strong gains of over $2.00 on both select and choice. Asking prices in the South are at $163, with trade holding until Thursday or Friday.