Grain Marketing Education, News & Strategies

Tidbits Flash Sales: Yesterday, USDA announced corn sales to Mexico: 173,800 mts of old crop, 22,400 mts of new crop, and 22,400 mts of the 2028 crop. Wheat: Saudi Arabia issued a tender Thursday for 535,000 mts of milling wheat with a bid deadline yesterday for delivery in Nov–Dec 2026. Results to be announced on Monday. The country issued a wheat tender on 7 September but cancelled it due to high prices. In Europe, the price of corn is higher than milling quality wheat, so

Tidbits Vomitoxin (aka Deoxynivalenol or DON) on corn is going to be a problem this year for many farmers. Gibberella is the most common vomitoxin; it has a particularly negative impact on livestock, making DON testing an important defense against the profit & loss statement. Dayton Cargill is checking every load of corn for DON. On wheat, it appears as a pink or reddish mold on the glumes and kernels. On corn, a pink or reddish mold appears on the tip of the ears. Vomitoxin

Tidbits The U.S.-China summit has not yielded any significant new information for the grain markets, and as a result, major grain markets are currently trading lower. The "Busan" trade agreement between the U.S. and China has been extended until 10 January 2027. That was the first announcement yesterday morning from the White House. That means tariffs will remain reduced, and export controls on rare earth elements will continue to be eased. This agreement was signed by the U.

Tidbits The market action yesterday was very disappointing, especially in wheat and corn, after the beating those two commodities took the previous two days. But, as our client Jeff pointed out, yesterday’s lows were above Thursday’s lows in the corn, beans, and both winter wheats. That is technically significant. Wheat sits 10¢ above the support level from the July peak. The 14 day Relative Strength Index as of the close yesterday: Dec Corn: 70.06, the high for the week was

Market Comment There was no new news yesterday that justified such strong action. It felt like the buying was more of a ground-swell of bullish news that had not been fully priced into these markets for the past two years. Eduardo Vanin is a soybean export trader with AgrInvest Commodities said: “Seems market realized Brazil will not have enough beans to cover China and Brazil's local industry. Soybean meal up ~2.5% today. Market in China turned to (government) auctions, Arge

Tidbits Field feedback from Dave, who farms just northwest of Chicago: “Took a trip to Tulsa over the weekend. In my opinion, Iowa looks great. Corn and beans along with northern half Missouri, southwest Missouri they are chopping or getting ready to harvest corn into Oklahoma, double crop beans look terrible. Came back thru St. Louis up thru Springfield, Bloomington to Rockford, corn has run out of gas, yellow green look like middle September, beans look great. Keep in mind

S&D The USDA will issue its August S&D on Wednesday. This is the first 2026 crop production report in which yields will not be accounting estimates based upon unknown assumptions. While the yield numbers will not be based on field survey results, the yield numbers will be based on survey reports from approximately 15,000 farmers across the country of their individual crop conditions, expectations, and projected yields based on what they see in their fields at the beginning of

Tidbits Flash Sales: Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 132,000 mts of new crop soybeans to China. Feedback: Some farmers in Central Minnesota (Morrison County) said they will start chopping corn Monday if they do not get rain this weekend. The U.S. GDP for the second quarter came in at 1.5% growth rate vs. 1.8% expected. Jobless claims were increased to 197,000 vs. 201,000 expected and below the recent average. The June Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) P

Tidbits Markets: November soybean futures lost nearly 30¢ and corn lost 9¢ Wednesday as some weather forecasts indicated rain relief for the Western Corn Belt with widespread rains into the early part of next week, with heaviest amounts seen for Iowa, Southern Minnesota and Northern Illinois. Those areas could see 1.25 inches to over 2 inches by Tuesday, based on a National Weather Service five-day outlook. Frankly, we cannot find a NWS five-day outlook with that prediction.

Tidbits Yesterday's mid-day price slump on the CBOT was nothing more than the market taking some profit after several days of gains. The tariffs announcement probably contributed to that. All three commodities traded lower. Only wheat settled lower, but it had gained the most in recent days. Flash sales: Yesterday, the USDA announced the sale of 126,000 mt of new crop soybeans to unknown. The Spring Wheat Tour on Day Two saw an average yield of 48.1 bushels per acre in northw

Tidbits Iran: Fox News reported the U.S. military launched a new round of airstrikes against Iranian targets Saturday afternoon after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) attacked a second commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a senior U.S. official. The strikes are targeting Iranian air defenses, drone storage facilities, cruise missiles, targeting radars, minelaying capabilities and surface-to-air missile systems. Despite this, media reports sugges

Tidbits Weather: The 6 to 10 day and 8 to 14 day weather forecasts have shifted from hot and wet to cool and wet for the Midwest, typical El Niño weather. U.S. Jobs: U.S. average job gains in 2025: 10,000 a month. U.S. average job gains first five months of 2026: 114,000 a month.

Tidbits The CBOT weakness this past week was a rough one to handle, but once the crop is planted, the price outlook in June is always about weather. The past seven days of weather forecasts included plenty of rain for the Corn Belt. We report to you the number of days with rain in the forecast for the next ten days for 12 locations across the Corn Belt. If all 12 locations expected rain in the ten-day forecast, the number of rain days would be 120! On 27 May, the number of ra

Tidbits Flash Sale: Yesterday, the USDA announced the sale of 115,000 mts of new crop corn to Colombia. Biofuel: The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) filed a lawsuit Friday in the D.C. Circuit court challenging the 2026-2027 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes finalized by the EPA in March. The AFPM claims EPA’s “Set 2 rule” is the largest and most expensive RFS iteration in history and is the single most expensive regulation of President Trump’s second te

Tidbits Tariffs & Trade: The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed imposing additional duties of 10% or ​12.5% on imports from 60 economies after determining their failures to curb trade in ‌goods made with forced labor are unreasonable and restrict U.S. commerce. The proposal from the U.S. Trade Representative's office is the latest finding from a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation to be released as the Trump administration seeks to ​rebuild its emergency ta

Tidbits Farm bankruptcies hit a six-year high in April, showing growing financial stress. During the month of April, 62 Chapter-12 bankruptcies were filed, which is a 130% jump from April 2025 and the highest monthly total since February 2020. Chapter 12 bankruptcy is a specialized legal framework designed specifically for "family farmers" or "family fishermen". It allows financially distressed agricultural producers to reorganize their debts and avoid liquidation, offering a

Tidbits National Weather Service 6 to 10 and 8 to 14 day forecasts predict much above normal temperatures with normal rainfall for the northern half of the U.S., as of last evening. China expects El Niño weather effects to peak in autumn and winter this year, before weakening in spring next year. Iran: A tentative 60-day ‘memorandum of understanding’ has been reached to extend the ceasefire and initiate nuclear negotiations with Iran, pending approval from President Trump. U.

Tidbits Nebraska is the third largest corn producing state in the U.S. It produces just under 2 billion bushels of corn annually. Nebraska is now 94% under some level of drought with about 10% in exceptional drought. Brady Olson farms and ranches in northeast Montana. He said Friday: "I think we have a massive disaster/wreck in northeast Montana and northwest North Dakota. Soil is drifted like snowbanks. Fertilizer that should be 3+ inches in the ground is on top. So dry an

Tidbits Fuel: The Department of Treasury has scheduled a public hearing for 27 May on the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit. The proposed rule defines eligibility, emissions rates, and certification requirements. California’s year-end data has just been released. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) consumption reached 119.5 million gallons in 2025. U.S. Economy: Yesterday, the S&P 500 rose nearly 1% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.7% as both indexes made new highs. The Dow J

Tidbits November beans and December corn made their 2026 highs on Thursday 30 April. $11.78 and $4.99¾ respectively. The price of soybeans continues to rise today, exceeding $11.79. Japan’s Central Bank intervened in the foreign exchange market with buying yesterday. It was the first such intervention since July 2024. The yen buying raised its value versus the dollar by a massive 3.1%. The yen had its strongest day since 2022. Japan is the fourth largest importer of American