Grain futures and cash prices across the globe copped a speeding ticket last week as bullish news flooded international markets, sending the bears back into hibernation.
Arguably, the headline ticket right now is the plight of the Brazilian corn crop and the looming supply void, into which wheat will likely need to dive head-first.
Global corn importers rely heavily on the Brazilian safrinha corn crop, and it is in serious trouble.
Also known as the second corn crop, this is sown immediately after the soybean crop has been harvested.
But the planting program was late this year after excessive rainfall delayed the soybean harvest.
The soil moisture profile was excellent when seeding finally did get started.
But it has been much drier than usual in many key growing regions ever since.
In the central-southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul, which accounts for 13 per cent of national safrinha corn production, the ideal planting window typically closes at the end of February.
This year, safrinha planting started on January 29 and didn't finish until April 16, which was about six weeks after the ideal planting window had closed.
About 44 per cent of the states' safrinha area was sown in March and early April.
Parana is south-east of Mato Grosso do Sul and produces about 16 per cent of the national safrinha output.
By the end of February, only 38 per cent of the safrinha corn crop there had been planted. A year earlier, that figure was 61 per cent.
And this season, 58 per cent was sown during the second half of March - past the ideal planting window for safrinha corn in Parana, which typically closes by February 20.
The late planting was always problematic, as the monsoon generally ends in mid to late-April with the onset of the annual dry season.
And the most recent meteorological evidence suggests that the rainy season is already winding-down.
As subsoil moisture and crop development are well below average going into May in Brazil, especially in the central and southern states, there is likely to be significant deterioration in crop conditions in coming weeks.
That is already the case in Parana.
Last week's crop rating plummeted to 62 per cent in good condition, down from 76 per cent just a week earlier and 92 per cent in the week before that.
There are reports that the moisture stress is pushing the crop into early pollination.
The states' vegetative index is one of the worst seen in recent years, and the soil moisture profile is the lowest in 30 years.
Corn crops in Mato Grosso and parts of Mato Grosso do Sul received enough rainfall in the past week to maintain plant conditions, but not build soil moisture.
Rain was quite scattered across the other Safrinha corn regions, and soil moisture deficits are increasing.
The states of Parana, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goias will experience either minimal rainfall - or nothing at all - in the next two weeks.
Forecasts beyond that are also unflattering.
The poor crop conditions and dry forecast have local analysts clambering over each other to lower their production forecasts.
Agricultural consultancy AgRural called the total Brazilian crop at 103.4 million tonnes.
Rabobank pegged Brazil's total output at 105 million tonnes, compared to its previous estimate of 107 million tonnes.
IHS Market - formerly Informa - reduced its estimate by 4.6 million tonnes to 104 million tonnes, and its safrinha crop forecast from 85 million tonnes to 79.5 million tonnes.
Respected consultant Dr Michael Cordonnier reduced his total Brazilian corn crop projection by 2 million tonnes to 103 million tonnes, with a lower forward bias based on the crop lateness, poor soil moisture profile and dry forecast.
He said the safrinha corn crop could be cut by 10 million tonnes, or more.
The last time Brazil had similar crop conditions and weather patterns at this point in the season was in 2016-17, and total corn production fell by 17 million tonnes year-on-year.
Cordonnier also noted that farmers in Brazil are becoming increasingly anxious about the aggressive new corn pest, corn leafhoppers.
Climatic conditions and seasonal history leading into 2021 had agronomists predicting the second corn crop would be a target of this insect.
That is now playing out in many districts, especially with the crop already stressed.
The hoppers can transmit the Maize rayado fino virus (MRFV) virus, which causes stunting and premature wilting of the corn plant.
March may have been a down month for corn futures, but it has been one-way traffic ever since.
There have been only two minor red sessions in the December contract this month.
The price has rallied from US452.5 cents per bushel on March 30 to be trading at US558c/bu early this week.
That is a 23.3 per cent increase in the futures price in just 26 days.
Since the contract low of US358.25c/bu exactly one year ago, the price has risen 55.8 per cent. That is some rally.
Where does it end?
The Brazilian safrinha crop issue won't go away, and it could easily be more than 10 million tonnes if the weather pattern doesn't change for the better very quickly.
In a typical year, such a production hiccup would typically be absorbed elsewhere.
But we are not in a typical year.
Global demand has skyrocketed thanks to China, which has had an unrelenting buying spree that has not as yet been tempered by the higher prices.
This will certainly boost export demand for US corn.
The challenge is that the forecast growth in US production for the 2021-22 season is predicated on a record yield projection of 179.5 bushels per acre.
That is a 4.3 per cent increase on the 2020-21 yield of 172bu/ac.
The area is up slightly year-on-year, but most of that rise is expected to come from poorer yielding states in the north, with slight falls in some of the higher-yielding states throughout the corn belt.
Regardless of the production outcome in Brazil and the US, some serious rationing must occur.
It seems that will have to be outside of China.
Of course, this has given wheat a whole new lease of life in recent weeks - as it will need to be the global feed grain backstop.
But the capacity for wheat to fill the entire gap is being challenged of late, with Northern Hemisphere production issues emerging in parts of the US, Canada, Europe and the Black Sea.
The corn market definitely has a bit of a "Martha and The Vandellas" flavour at the moment, in terms of "Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide".