March Wheat finished up 27 1/4 at 863, 1 1/2 off the high and 27 1/2 up from the low. July Wheat closed up 28 3/4 at 914 3/4. This was 29 1/4 up from the low and 1 off the high. The market surged higher on the session and even saw a late rally to push nearby March futures to a new contract high. Continued concerns for cold weather damage to the winter wheat crop in the US (which is not covered with snow) plus continued expectations for strong global demand for wheat, rice, vegetable oils, dried milk and sugar helped support strong gains early in the session today. Bitter cold weather is moving into the plains for the next few days. Ideas that North Africa and Middle East countries will continue to stock up on food items added to the positive tone but worsening conditions in Egypt into their evening helped support a bounce in the US dollar and triggered a set-back in the wheat market to mid-session lows. End of January state-by-state crop condition updates this week helped to provide underlying support. As of the end of January, Kansas winter wheat crops rated good to excellent came in at just 27% vs. 56% last year and 49.7% as the 5-year average. Poor to very poor ratings were 37%. Good to excellent ratings in Texas were 17%, Oklahoma 21% and Nebraska 41%. Traders see weekly sales totals for the pre-opening release near or just shy of 1 million tonnes as compared with 1.047 million tonnes last week and just 385,100 tonnes of old crop sales needed each week to reach the USDA export forecast for the season. March Oats closed up 16 at 413 1/2. This was 17 1/2 up from the low and 1/2 off the high.

Bron: CME