Grain Marketing Education, News & Strategies

Tidbits China made several announcements yesterday which show they are going to advance their effort to counter the U.S. trade actions that are forcing China to the negotiation table. China will convene an informal U.N. Security Council meeting on April 23 to accuse Washington of bullying and weaponizing tariffs, according to a document that outlines the key elements of a proposed project, initiative, or program at the United Nations. All 193 U.N. members are invited to atten

"There is just as much additional profit to be made with better marketing as there is with more yield." -Clifford Baughman, 1964; the first vocational agriculture to teach high school students grain marketing. The highest price for 2025 corn, wheat, and soybeans futures will most likely be made in the next two months. Making any pricing decision is difficult. Our job is to provide the most important fundamental, technical, and seasonal information for you to make the

It's our weekly US grain market prices analysis and outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat. Dow Jones Industrial Average Index settled at 39,142, -1,070 points for the week. Crude oil settled at $64.45, +2.97. Dollar Index settled at 99.23, -0.55. Baltic Dry Index (a shipping freight-cost index) settled at 1,261, -13 for the week. Corn May futures at $4.82¼, -8¢ for the week. December futures at $4.66, +2½¢ for the week. Basis (K = May; e.g. 10K means 10¢ over May futures) (Fut

Tidbits China, having a near monopoly on the rare earth metals industry, has hinted at a stoppage since the first Trump administration. The country produces over 99% of the world’s heavy rare earth metals as well as 90% of rare earth magnets. What is a rare earth metal? There are 17 so-called rare earth metals that are named not for being rare, but for being extremely difficult and environmentally dangerous to mine and process. These metals are sometimes turned into power

Tidbits After handling a record number of ocean freight containers in 2024, containers are stacking up at China’s ports. Shanghai and Guangdong ports are seeing idle containers that missed the April 9, 2025, U.S. tariff deadline. Virtually no cargo ships were heading to the U.S. from these ports as of mid-April, and factory production in export hubs like Zhejiang and Guangdong has largely been halted. China’s fiscal revenue in the first quarter of 2025 was 1.1% less than a

Tidbits The markets are closed today for Good Friday. They will reopen normal times on Sunday. Why have soybean futures been surprisingly firm this month? Canola futures rose above CA$680 per mt yesterday, up $120 since 17 March, as tightening supplies compounded with robust global demand for vegetable oils spurred the rally. China’s 100% tariffs on Canadian canola meal and oil makes canola seed exports to the U.S. very important for Canadian farmers. The U.S. is Canada’s top

Tidbits There was some progress with China yesterday. China stated it wants to see a number of steps from Donald Trump’s administration before it will agree to trade talks, including showing more respect by reining in disparaging remarks by members of Trump's cabinet. China’s leadership wants the U.S. to appoint a point person for talks with China’s top trade negotiator. California on Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on

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, fertilizers for past week Wednesday to Tuesday. Read about our approach to this report here. We discussed 2025 corn and soybeans marketing plan on March 23.Refer to our daily mailing on that day or this post on the website. Corn Corn situation after the close Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Tidbits The Chinese economy expanded at an annual rate of 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025, keeping the same pace as in the 4th quarter of 2024. The market expected a slower pace of expansion of just 5.1%. China’s economic annual growth rate is the strongest in 1½ years. Manufacturing sales in Canada rose 0.2% in February to CA$72 billion; the market expected a decline of 0.2%. February was the fifth consecutive month of increases and the highest level of sales since Septe

Tidbits The markets will be closed on 18 April, Good Friday. Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 120,000 mts of old crop corn to Japan. USDA's second Crop Progress report had spring wheat now at 7% planted, corn at 4%, soybean at 2%. Winter wheat conditions fell slightly to 47% good or excellent. The USDA on Monday said it had canceled a $3 billion program for climate-smart farming projects after a review found it did not align with the priorities of the Trump a

Tidbits China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will meet with Brazilian authorities in Brazil this week to discuss food and nutritional security, sustainable agricultural production and climate change, electronic certification of agricultural products and agricultural trade, and logistics infrastructure, according to Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro. Quotes of Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins: 11 April: "Just finished a produ

It's our weekly US grain market prices analysis and outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat. Dow Jones Industrial Average Index settled at 40,213, +1,898 points for the week. Crude oil settled at $61.48, -0.84. Dollar Index settled at 99.78, -3.11. Baltic Dry Index (a shipping freight-cost index) settled at 1,274, -215 for the week. Corn May futures at $4.90¼, +30¢ for the week. December futures at $4.63½, +16¾¢ for the week. Basis (K = May; e.g. 10K means 10¢ over May futures)

Tidbits China bought a weekly record 60 ship loads of Brazil’s soybeans this past week, boosted by robust farmer sales and better profit margins of China crushers. More than 5.2 million mts were sold. Corporate China spent years living by the 996 rule: work 9 AM to 9 PM six days a week. Now, companies are beginning to ease off because of the potential loss of the American markets. A highly unusual personnel move in the upper ranks of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has

Highlights The U.S. Dollar Index closed yesterday at the lowest level since April 2022. A lower dollar makes U.S. products more competitive in the world marketplace. The 12 month U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) was reported yesterday morning at 2.7% versus 3.2% the previous month; the market expected 3.3%. For the month of March, the PPI was a negative 0.4%, versus +0.1% in February; the market expected +0.2% for March. PPI is the measure of inflation at the wholesale level

Highlights The biggest news piece from yesterday’s S&D was the USDA increased corn exports by 100 million bushels. As many expected, the corn for feed was reduced by 25 million bushels, so the carryout was reduced by 75 million bushels, which took the carryout from a 37 day supply to a 35 day supply. The market expected a 30 million bushel reduction in the corn carryout. USDA did not change any of the corn or soybean production numbers for Brazil, Argentina, or Paraguay. Stud

The numbers were: Friendly to Bullish Corn Friendly Soybeans Negative U.S. Wheat Neutral World Wheat 20 Minutes After the Report: May...

Highlights China has responded to Donald Trump's trade tariffs by raising duties on U.S. goods by from 34% to 84% and by appealing to the...

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, fertilizers for past week Wednesday to Tuesday. Read about our approach to this report here. We discussed 2025 corn and soybeans marketing plan on March 23.Refer to our daily mailing on that day or this post on the website. Corn Corn situation after the close Tuesday, April 8, 2025:

Tidbits Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 240,000 mts of old crop corn to Spain. In February, U.S. agricultural trade deficit showed slight improvement, with exports decreasing to $13.59 billion (a drop of $830 million from January) and imports falling more sharply to $17.86 billion (down $2.81 billion). This reduction narrowed the monthly trade deficit to $4.27 billion, an improvement from January's record deficit of $6.25 billion. USDA projects 2025 financia

Highlights On 2 April, Trump applied an additional 34% reciprocal tariffs on China added to the existing 20% duties already applied to Chinese imports. Together, they bring the total tariff rate to 54%, affecting nearly $600 billion in annual trade to combat currency manipulation, dumping (selling below the cost of production) of industrial products, and a host of other lesser offenses. China responded over the weekend with a series of countermeasures, including tighter expor