Soybean Futures:  The CBT May 05 soybean futures contract closed at $6.74 on 3/16/2005, up from this time last month(2/16/2005) by $1.39/bu.  The Wednesday close was -$3.21/bu. from last year (3/17/2004), when prices rose up to a 13-year high of $10.52 on March 24, 2004.

Soybean Basis:  The average cash price across 364  locations in the Great Plains was $6.19 , with a minimum price of $5.61 and a maximum of $6.73 /bu.  Basis levels averaged --$0.540 with Missouri, central and eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas and eastern Oklahoma reporting above average prices.  Weaker basis levels as low as -$0.815 appeared in the western portion of the Great Plains.

Soybean Basis Deviation:   Nebraska saw the most positive level of the region -$0.22 from the historical average. Basis levels in much of Missouri were about 1 - 2 cents weaker than the three year average. On average across the rest of the area, basis levels were below the three-year historical average but southeast Missouri, and some pockets in Kansas and Oklahoma reported average levels.

Corn Futures:  The CBT May 05 corn futures contract closed at $2.26  on 3/16/2005, up from this time last month ( 2/16/2005) by $0.29/bu.  The Wednesday close was   -$0.83/bu from the same time last year ( 3/17/2004).

Corn Basis:  Cash prices averaged $1.98  across the 421  Great Plains locations and ranged from a high of $2.83 to a low of $1.73 /bu.  Basis levels averaged -$0.277 and were the weakest in Nebraska, northern and eastern Kansas and most of Missouri.  Southwest Kansas, eastern Colorado, and the Oklahoma/Texas  Panhandle followed last month's trend with the strongest basis levels relative to other locations.

Corn Basis Deviation:   On average, across all locations, basis deviation levels were -$0.16 from the three-year historical average. The center of the region was about 8-11 cents weaker while the perimeter of the Great Plains were closest to the three-year historical average, falling between 1-3 below average.

Wheat Futures:  The KCBT May 05 wheat futures contract closed at $3.63 on ( 3/16/2005), $0.38 up from this time last month.  The Wednesday close was -$0.41from the same week last year ( 3/17/2004).

Wheat Basis:  Cash prices averaged $3.36 across 330 locations in the Great Plains region.  The high cash price observed was $4.03 and the low price was $2.66 /bu.  Basis levels averaged-$0.273 across all locations.  Stronger basis levels were seen in central and eastern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma and portions of Colorado, while the Oklahoma/Texas panhandles, most of Nebraska and western Kansas basis levels were weaker.

Wheat Basis Deviation:   On average, across all locations, basis levels were stable. Eastern Oklahoma, central Colorado, central and southeast Kansas basis levels were -$0.10 from the historical averages, while much of Nebraska was 1 - 8 cents weaker. The Oklahoma/Texas panhandle, western Kansas and northeast Kansas showed basis levels that ranged from 3 to 4 cents above the three-year historical average.

Corn Futures:  The CBT May 05 corn futures contract closed at $2.26  on 3/16/2005, up from this time last month (2/16/2005) by $0.29/bu.  The Wednesday close was  -$0.83/bu from the same time last year (3/17/2004).

Grain Sorghum Basis:  Cash prices averaged $1.77 across 298 locations and ranged from a high of $2.27  to a low of $1.22 /bu.  Basis averaged -$0.494 across all locations but eastern Missouri, Colorado, Texas faired better.  The Great Plains were divide throughout the three sections with eastern and western portions showing stronger levels than the mid-section. Basis levels were weaker in western Missouri, most of Kansas and central to eastern Nebraska.

Grain Sorghum Basis Deviation:  The basis levels observed this week averaged -$0.24 from the three-year historical average across all locations.   Basis levels from Nebraska through Oklahoma were 20 - 30 cents weaker while eastern Colorado and Missouri were 10 to 20 cents weaker than the historical three-year average.