Market Monitor

By Marlin Clark

More news from Virginia

Virginia this year was a lot like Ohio, only without the snow plows.

As I mentioned two weeks ago, we were in Newport News for the birth of our second grandson, Nolan Carter. That finally happened, but Squeeze talked me into staying longer than expected. If your judgment is poor, you need to marry someone who has more than you do.

Such was the case last Tuesday as we looked at the weather forecast to be in our way, and we decided to hole up for three more days. The first confirmation that we did the right thing was the 50-car pileup the next morning two miles away from us. The second was the condition of the roads three days later. On the main roads the snow had been shoved to the side, but was bleeding into the roadway. We saw almost no road equipment, but it must have been around the day before.

We stopped for the night in Winchester, a convenient location to head north to the PA turnpike or west across Western MD. The whole way across VA was interesting for a couple with a grandson born in VA and carrying the Carter name. Squeeze's family is only two generations in Ohio after 11 in Virginia. Everywhere you look is a reminder of the First Families of Virginia and their marrying habits. The Carters and Lees and Burwells all married each other, so that every home you tour has a geneology that includes Carters.

Near Winchester is Carter Hall, once the headquarters of Stonewall Jackson (whose mother was a Carter), and which is now open to the public. By coincidence the Navy officer friend of my son-in-law who escorted us onto Langley ARB for the birth of our Carter was the captain of the Carter Hall until recently, a ship named for that Carter Hall.

The Blue Ridge Mountains were frosted heavily with white, with nearly four feet of snow still piled in parking lots. The drive across the panhandle of MD was surely one of the most beautiful scenes in the country.

While we were struggling home, grain prices were making recent lows and putting some consistent gains on the charts. March corn futures have lost nearly 80 cents since early January, with most of the loss coming after USDA Reports on the 13^th. We have now traded 6 sessions above the low, including three cents of gain overnight after the three-day weekend.

March soybeans have lost nearly $1.75, but have bounced 56 cents in the last few days including a dime gain on Monday night.

March wheat, which I expected to trade on its own, has not. It has lost 88 cents, but with a recent 36-cent rebound.

Marlin Clark trades producer and elevator grain for Keystone Commodities from an office near Andover, Ohio. He welcomes your comments at 866-293-4433.