DTN Closing Grain Comments    12/22 14:05
   Row Crops Begin Holiday Week With Cautiously Higher Action

   With the winter season officially underway, row crops kicked off Christmas
week with a subdued trading session which saw mostly higher prices. Higher
energy futures were the primary bullish driver for Monday with crude oil
futures up for a fourth consecutive session and after hitting almost five-year
lows last week, on renewed geopolitical risk premium as the U.S. has seized two
Venezuelan oil tankers and is reportedly pursuing a third to start the week.
Also adding to the unease is heightened Russian attacks on key Ukrainian export
infrastructure, at least temporarily giving pause to what had been growing
hopes for peace in that area. This gave a boost to vegetable oil markets to
start the week, with soybean oil posting just the third positive session out of
the past ten.

Rhett Montgomery
DTN Lead Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   March corn closed up 3 1/4 cents and May corn was up 3 cents. January
soybeans closed up 4 cents and March soybeans were up 5 1/2 cents. March KC
wheat closed up 6 cents, March Chicago wheat was up 5 3/4 cents, March MIAX
Minneapolis wheat was up 2 cents.