BASIC & RECENT MARKET INFO

Tidbits Tariffs:  Yesterday, President Trump signed trade deals with Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Tariffs on most of their exports to the U.S. will remain at 19%. Thailand and Malaysia will increase exports of rare earth minerals to the U.S. while allowing increased access of U.S. products to all three countries' markets.   At the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, President Lula of Brazil and Trump talked for nearly an hour yesterday and indica

It's our weekly US grain market prices analysis and outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat. Dow Jones  Industrial Average Index settled on Friday at 47,207, +1,017 points for the week. Crude oil  settled at $61.44, +3.80. Dollar Index  settled at 98.94, +0.40. Baltic Dry Index  (a shipping freight-cost index)  settled at 1,991, -78. Corn December futures settled at $4.23¼, +¾¢ for the week. Basis   (Z = December; e.g. 10Z means 10¢ over Dec futures) (Futures price + Basis = Cas

Tidbits Tariffs & Trade:  President Trump announced yesterday that he will increase tariffs on Canada by 10% after he accused the provincial government of Ontario of producing an ad campaign that misrepresented former President Reagan’s speech on tariffs.   The ad campaign, which aired during the World Series games in Toronto Friday evening, Trump said was aimed to influence the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court hearing on his administration’s tariffs. Ontario Premier Doug Ford agr

Tidbits Venezuela : The Pentagon announced yesterday the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford with its Strike Group has been ordered to Latin America to target drug trafficking organizations, marking a significant increase of the U.S. military buildup in the Latin American region.     U.S. Economy:  Markets have priced-in nearly a 99% probability the Federal Reserve will reduce the Fed Fund interest rate 25 basis points (a quarter of a percent) next week, with similar odds for

Tidbits Chinese and U.S.  officials will be meeting this weekend to prepare the agenda for next Thursday’s meeting of Trump and Xi to discuss “important issues”. Yesterday afternoon, Reuters reported that the Chinese oil majors have suspended purchases of Russian oil due to the U.S. sanctions. It seems like questionable news, because yesterday, commenting on U.S. sanctions against Russian oil companies, a representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated at a briefing tha

Tidbits Yesterday, November bean futures were up 4¢, January beans were up 1½, March beans were down ¼, and May beans were down ¾¢. Corn and wheat had similar action, but not as pronounced. Meaning the spread is going up and that is bullish market action. With November soybean deliveries beginning 8 days, it looks like the big grain companies want soybean deliveries. The FSA  reportedly will reopen offices today to process ARC/PLC payments, farm loans, and disaster programs.

Grain market summary of price outlook, seasonal situation, fundamental & technical analysis with our recommendations for corn , soybeans and wheat (Soft Red Winter, Hard Red Winter & Spring), fuel and fertilizer for past week Wednesday to Tuesday. Read about our approach to this report here . We provide three different marketing plans (in order of decreasing our preference). The marketing decision is yours to make, obviously you can mix those plans, change the sales size or

Tidbits November grain and oilseed options expire this Friday, October 24th.    Deliveries on November soybean futures will start Friday, October 31st. Farm Aid: The U.S. administration is planning to distribute more than $3 billion in aid for farmers and reopen some activities of the USDA amid the ongoing federal shutdown. Ag Secretary Rollins said: "Thursday, USDA will resume Farm Service Agency core operations, including critical services for farm loan processing, ARC/PLC

Tidbits Tariffs: The Trump administration began easing tariff policies, making exceptions for goods that cannot be produced, mined, or grown in the USA. The list of exemptions includes gold, LEDs, chemicals, metals, and even aircraft parts. The tariff relief is related to an upcoming Supreme Court case that may declare some duties illegal. Now the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative will be able to independently approve tariff relief, which will speed up

Tidbits Venezuela:  Since 2 September, the U.S. military has destroyed 7 small vessels after leaving Venezuela on course to the U.S. because they purportedly were carrying illegal drugs. One of them was a submarine this past week.   The past two months, the U.S. has moved a considerable amount of military hardware to locations very near Venezuela, including B-2 Stealth bombers and B-52 bombers flying off Venezuela’s coast nearly every day this past week near the two islands w

It's our weekly US grain market prices analysis and outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat. Dow Jones  Industrial Average Index settled on Friday at 46,191, +711 points for the week. Crude oil  settled at $57.64, -0.60. Dollar Index  settled at 98.54, -0.31. Baltic Dry Index  (a shipping freight-cost index)  settled at 2,069, +133. Corn December futures settled at $4.22½, +9½¢ for the week. Basis   (Z = December; e.g. 10Z means 10¢ over Dec futures) (Futures price + Basis = Cas

Free DP for Soybeans From Reuters News: In an unusual offer during the peak of autumn harvesting, ADM is allowing farmers to deliver soy to its facility in Decatur, Illinois, and set the final sale price later, without paying for storage, the two sources said.   In exchange, ADM will take ownership of the soybeans, enabling it to process the crops, they added.   ADM’s offer, known as free deferred pricing, will be available to farmers until the end of October, and those who p

Tidbits Pre-hedge: Thirty minutes before the CBOT closed yesterday afternoon, December corn was up 2¼¢ and settled up 1¼¢. Not much pre-hedging pressure. Was it because of the weekend rain in the forecast? No late pressure in soybeans futures at all, which would be as expected; essentially bean harvest is over.     Rumor is China will soon auction 3.5 million mts of government owned soybean beans. Historically, China offers government stocks at auction when domestic prices ar

Tidbits The U.S. budget  deficit for fiscal year 2025 narrowed to $1.775 trillion, a decrease of $41 billion from the previous year, driven by record federal receipts, up 6% from 2024. The improvement was supported by record high tariffs and customs revenues. The fiscal year, ending September 30, 2025, covered nearly nine months under the new administration and marked the first annual deficit decline since 2022. After buying $20 billion worth of Argentine pesos on 9 October,

Tidbits Corn basis  continues to firm. Dan reported Heritage Coop in West Central Ohio firmed from -45Z (45¢ under Dec futures) last Friday, to -40Z on Monday, to -37Z yesterday. More than half the corn is still in the field in that area where yields are not as good as expected in early August, but above average. Agronomists have identified the area west of Galesburg, Illinois, including communities of Alexis, Joy, Monmouth, Kirkwood, etc., as the Tarspot Ground Zero of the C

Tidbits China: About noon Central Time yesterday it was reported: “U.S. Trade Representative Greer says the Trump Administration thinks they will be able to "work through it" with China.” A meeting between President Trump and President Xi has officially been rescheduled. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday Washington was considering terminating some trade ties with China, including in relation to cooking oil. "I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans,

Grain market summary of price outlook, seasonal situation, fundamental & technical analysis with our recommendations for corn , soybeans and wheat (Soft Red Winter, Hard Red Winter & Spring), fuel and fertilizer for past week Wednesday to Tuesday. Read about our approach to this report here . We provide three different marketing plans (in order of decreasing our preference). The marketing decision is yours to make, obviously you can mix those plans, change the sales size or

Tidbits With the Chinese and U.S. trade relationship going down the toilet on Friday and nothing concrete since then, it was quite surprising soybean futures were 1½¢ higher yesterday while corn and wheat settled down 1 to 2¢.   An Indian trade  delegation will visit the United States this week as Washington and New Delhi push to finalize a bilateral deal by the fall deadline. India is seeking to increase U.S. natural gas purchases as part of the talks, which previously inclu

Tidbits Mid-day Saturday, President Trump issued this statement: Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment… The USA wants to help China, not hurt it.   Later Trump posted: China’s President Xi “just had a bad moment.”       China has softened their stance on their Friday announcement about rare earth mineral export controls. On Sunday morning, China issued this press release specifically about rare earth minerals: The re

It's our weekly US grain market prices analysis and outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat. Dow Jones  Industrial Average Index settled on Friday at 45,480, -1,279 points for the week. Crude oil  settled at $58.24, -2.45. Dollar Index  settled at 98.854, +1.14. Baltic Dry Index  (a shipping freight-cost index)  settled at 1,936, +35. Corn December futures settled at $4.13, -6¢ for the week. Basis   (Z = December; e.g. 10Z means 10¢ over Dec futures) (Futures price + Basis = Cas