02/27/26 Afternoon CommStock Report- Everything is Political

So much about markets is political these days. Is that just the nature of things under President Trump, or is it only recency bias because everything has always been and always will be political? It would seem that political sensitivities are truly more heightened than ever in the agricultural markets, with politics serving as a primary driver of prices according to the frequent headlines that cover tariffs and trade, biofuels policy, monetary policy, farm programs and food security. Grain and livestock markets are currently guided by new developments on major political issues being either freshly revealed or imminent.   February was notable for starting off with a soybean rally triggered by President Trump’s social media post about wanting to see more purchases from China. Attention to Chinese follow through or lack thereof was ultimately superseded by bullish biofuels news. The month of March is now tagged for bringing the government’s goal of finalizing renewable fuel blending volume levels, which were often speculated about this month in anticipation of the Environmental Protection Agency sending its completed rules to the White House. Biofuel policy changes were perceived to be particularly friendly for soybean oil futures, which generated a gain of 15 percent…