diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e011a0a..c4b80a5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,21 @@ to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Added
+
+- **Twelve more years of grain positioning: ZC, ZS, ZW, ZO and KE now stitch their
+  pre-1998 codes.** The five CBOT/KCBT grains re-coded at the 1997/1998 year boundary
+  (`002601` to `002602`, `005601` to `005602`, `001601` to `001602`, `004601` to `004603`,
+  `001611` to `001612`), and the registry only carried the new codes, so the store's grain
+  history began 1998-01-06 although the CFTC publishes it from 1986-01-15. The old codes are
+  the same contracts reported in **thousands of bushels** rather than contracts: every
+  position column is divisible by 5 on 99.3 to 100% of pre-1998 rows and on none after,
+  open interest drops 5.0 to 5.7x at the seam (oats 3.8x, a real move), and the trader
+  counts do not move (corn 366 to 345, wheat 164 to 169). Each predecessor carries scale
+  `0.2`, the first use of a scale below 1 (lumber's 4.0 is the other). No overlap week.
+  The producer writes the five new per-code files on its next `--cot` run; until then
+  `get_cot` returns the post-1998 series exactly as before.
+
 ### Changed
 
 - **`get_cot` overlap weeks go to the larger scaled open interest, not the primary code.**
diff --git a/src/cotdata/cot.py b/src/cotdata/cot.py
index 5cde2a2..a794539 100644
--- a/src/cotdata/cot.py
+++ b/src/cotdata/cot.py
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ def get_cot(name: str, report: str = "legacy") -> pd.DataFrame:
             h[_CODE_COL] = sym.cftc_code
         frames.append(h)
     frames = [f for f in frames if not f.empty]
-    if not frames:
-        return primary
+    if len(frames) < 2:                   # nothing to stitch (predecessor files absent,
+        return primary                    # e.g. before the producer's next run): primary as-is
     combined = pd.concat(frames)
     # Overlap weeks (a hand-off between codes) keep the row with the larger SCALED
     # open interest, not the primary code. At the 2017 Russell hand-off the primary
diff --git a/src/cotdata/registry.yaml b/src/cotdata/registry.yaml
index 92a198a..028bfd0 100644
--- a/src/cotdata/registry.yaml
+++ b/src/cotdata/registry.yaml
@@ -52,16 +52,29 @@ Energies:
     cftc_code: "067411"
 
 Grains:
+  # The five CBOT/KCBT grains below re-coded at the 1997/1998 year boundary. The old
+  # codes are the same contracts reported in THOUSANDS OF BUSHELS rather than contracts
+  # (5,000 bu each): every position column in the old files is divisible by 5 on 99.3 to
+  # 100% of rows, none are after the switch, open interest drops 5x at the seam and the
+  # trader counts do not move. Scale 0.2 converts to contracts. No overlap week: the old
+  # code ends 1997-12-30, the new one starts 1998-01-06. Measured 2026-10-10 against the
+  # CFTC deacot1986_2016 bundle; see CHANGELOG.
   ZC:
     cftc_code: "002602"
+    hist_codes:
+      - ["002601", 0.2]
   ZS:
     cftc_code: "005602"
+    hist_codes:
+      - ["005601", 0.2]
   ZM:
     cftc_code: "026603"
   ZL:
     cftc_code: "007601"
   ZW:
     cftc_code: "001602"
+    hist_codes:
+      - ["001601", 0.2]
   # Added 2026-08-04 for crowdmon's contract-spec backlog: the smallest market of the ten
   # candidates and the strongest on the criterion that decides, Managed Money share 0.433
   # against a covered median of 0.137 (crowdmon docs/design/amendments-2026-08-03.md §C17,
@@ -71,8 +84,12 @@ Grains:
   # Held-out generalization grains (new symbols, never in the deploy selection).
   ZO:                       # Oats (CBOT)
     cftc_code: "004603"
+    hist_codes:
+      - ["004601", 0.2]
   KE:                       # KC HRW Wheat (Kansas City, CME)
     cftc_code: "001612"
+    hist_codes:
+      - ["001611", 0.2]
 
 # Dairy — a genuinely new asset class for the held-out generalization test: real
 # commercial hedgers, never touched CMR selection. Collected here; cot-analyzer
diff --git a/tests/test_registry.py b/tests/test_registry.py
index c402c9d..1d5e327 100644
--- a/tests/test_registry.py
+++ b/tests/test_registry.py
@@ -181,3 +181,12 @@ def test_golden_identity_checksum():
     # symbols.
     assert digest == "3dd3df8eb26d850654107e16568cddb6", (
         "registry identity facts changed; update the expected checksum if intended")
+
+
+# ── the 1998 grain re-code: five predecessors at scale 0.2 (thousand bushels → contracts) ─
+def test_grain_predecessors_scaled_to_contracts():
+    expected = {"ZC": "002601", "ZS": "005601", "ZW": "001601", "ZO": "004601", "KE": "001611"}
+    for sym, old in expected.items():
+        assert hist_code_scales(symbol(sym).hist_codes) == [(old, 0.2)], sym
+    for sym in ("ZM", "ZL", "ZR"):         # single-code since 1986, nothing to stitch
+        assert symbol(sym).hist_codes == (), sym