Quick start to spring; Seesaw grains

It's National Agriculture Week and Thursday was National Ag Day, a day to celebrate your industry and share what you do and highlight why it's important to the U.S. and the world! So, what's your message on Ag Day?

• - Celebrate National Ag Day!
• - Talk: Your Ag Day message?

Weather's been a big story this week in agriculture. Though the dry, warm winter could cause some unique problems for this year's crop, the early spring weather may allow a lot of fieldwork to get going.

• - A 'quick start to spring'
• - Warm winter poses unique crop threats
• - What's a coronal mass ejection?

Meanwhile, the markets have seesawed sharply this week ahead of Friday's USDA World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. Wednesday and Thursday saw a lot of positioning among traders ahead of Friday's numbers.

• - See what's happening on the trading floor

This week saw a lot of speculation about whether or not U.S. farmers will be able to raise enough corn to meet growing demand this year. Analysts say 94 million acres is the new 'magic number' for corn this year. Will we reach it?

• - Beefing up corn stocks
• - Corn prices could slip through fall 
• - Talk: 94 million 'new magic number'

Another major factor weighing on the grains -- like all the financial markets lately -- is what's happening in Greece. That nation's debt crisis is causing a lot of apprehension about how the money will be paid back and what it might do to markets around the world.

• - D-Day for Greece
• - Greece 'walks away' from debt?

China's facing a different type of issue that's causing some grain supply logjams there. A report this week shows a bottleneck between grain supplies and where they're needed most in that nation.

• - China facing grain bottlenecks
• - Talk: China imports building

Back at home, even though corn prices are still at fairly strong levels, one analyst tells Marketeye this week that it's not a good time to "go bearish on ethanol plants." It's a hot topic among farmers this week. What do you think?

• - Talk: Ethanol plants up the marketing game

The strong corn market has many farmers looking at expanding corn acres this spring, at least those who attended the 2012 Commodity Classic last week in Nashville, Tennessee. "But, we're also getting a sense that people may be reconsidering -- if they have the flexibility," says Agriculture.com's John Walter.

• - Talk: Planting intentions straw poll
• - See what was new at this year's Classic

There has been a noticeable trend on the CME Group floor in the last few months, and it seems the trade's waiting for the 'next big thing' before the almost yearlong decline in trading volume picks back up, market-watchers say. That could be the March 30 USDA Planting Intentions report.

• - Read more: Farm futures volume drops

"While soybeans have rallied, corn prices have been relatively stagnant during this time. This has increased the soybean/corn price ratio now to the point that it should attract acres away from corn and to soybeans, as we now have a 2.3 ratio," says market analyst Ray Grabanski.

• - March madness for corn, soybeans