Grain Marketing Education, News & Strategies

Tidbits Russia has begun using its Arctic port of Murmansk for the first time to export grain. Latifundist.com reported that Russia dispatched 40,000 mts of wheat yesterday from the port 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Because of the Gulf Stream, Murmansk remains open all year, but its maximum grain capacity is 60,000 to 90,000 mts per month. That is a drop in the bucket of what Russia normally ships out of the Black Sea. Transporting wheat to Murmansk costs 3 to 5 time

Tidbits Yield reports from Stan just north of Central Illinois: “Yield reports (both from neighbors and my fields): Corn yield is about 10-12% lower than last year. Fields without pattern tile or where water runs across vary even more. Bean yields are about even with last year, or maybe just a tad lower. But again, wide variation for those without good drainage; too much water at times for both corn and beans, and then too hot and dry for too long for much of July into early

Tidbits China announced tariff reductions on a broad range of U.S. agricultural products on Monday (Sunday night in USA), including corn, wheat, sorghum, soybean meal, and soybean oil, but excluded soybeans. U.S. soybeans continue to face an additional 10% Chinese tariff, which remains a significant obstacle for private Chinese crushers, but not the Chinese government buyers. All the soybeans purchased by China this year have been purchased by the government. Since the govern

Tidbits Brazilian farmers had planted 1.2% of the expected area for their 2026/27 soybean crop, ahead of last year’s pace. First corn crop planting reached 27% in the center-south region, compared with 22% a week earlier and 25% a year ago. Despite the strong pace, low temperatures have constrained progress in some areas, with isolated corn fields hit by frost over the past two weeks, AgRural said. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ​said on Monday that Uruguay had

Tidbits Friday's key reversal on the soybeans (new contract high followed by a close lower than the previous day's low) was negated by yesterday's higher close. As a general rule, a lack of follow through on the next trading day is needed to confirm a technical trend change. Fuel & Fertilizer: Diesel prices are climbing fast, and farmers are feeling it in real time. U.S. diesel prices have surged 60% since the start of the war in Iran. With another 30¢ jump in just a week, th

Tidbits Presidents Putin and Trump had an hour long telephone conversation yesterday. It was strictly confidential, but was described as positive. Canada: The U.S. banned a broad swath of Canadian alcoholic beverages, motorcycles and dairy products from import on Tuesday, sharply escalating ​an already acrimonious trade spat. The import bans, which go into effect on September 29 and were published on the White House's website, came after Canada's own retaliatory tariffs on U.

Tidbits Markets: After a very significant price rally in any month, it is normal that the last business day of the month becomes a profit taking day. The fund manager wants to make their month-end report to show locked-in profits. The Turkey initiative to get Black Sea grain moving into the world marketplace cast a negative spell, but unless Putin has a change of heart, this effort will die on the vine. Flash Sales: Yesterday, the USDA announced the sale of 159,000 mts of old

Tidbits Brazil: Roraima is a small state in the far north of Brazil bordering Venezuela to the north and Guyana to the east. It is north of the Amazon River and a bit north of the Equator. Farmers plant corn and beans in March or April and harvest in September. El Niño brings drier weather to Roraima just as it does to Central Brazil where the majority of Brazil’s corn, beans, and cotton are grown. Early harvest has begun. Some producers are reporting the loss of entire crops

Tidbits U.S. Crops: The USDA’s 180.7 corn yield reported on 12 August was based upon conditions as of the first of August. Ohio and Indiana were both projected to have record corn yields. Since those numbers were gathered, all 92 counties in Indiana have been declared a disaster due to excessive rain, as have 2 in Ohio, which will probably see several more added in the coming days. The historic flooding, record river crests, downed corn, some hail, and standing water from cen

Tidbits Crude oil prices jumped 5% yesterday as hopes of a U.S.-Iran peace deal and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz faded. Flash Sales: Yesterday, the USDA announced the sale of 105,000 mts of old crop corn to unknown. Yes, the 2025 crop, with just 3 weeks left to export it! The USDA is extending the deadline for farmers to apply for Stages 1 and 2 of the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) to 30 September 2026. Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is prov

Tidbits Flash Sales: Yesterday, the USDA announced the sale of 488,000 mts of new crop soybeans to China and 136,150 mts of new crop soybeans to unknown. The June USDA crushing report had 520 million bushels of corn crushed, up 5% from a year ago. The soybean crush was 218 million bushels, up 10.65% from a year ago. The canola June crush was 204,577 tons, up 22.9% from a year ago. Biofuel: Friday EIA data showed combined biodiesel and renewable diesel production in May 2026 w

Tidbits The Strait of Hormuz status is disputed: Iran claims it is closed, while the United States insists it remains open. Actual traffic through the strait is severely reduced to a fraction of normal capacity as hundreds of vessels wait or are bypassing standard tracking amid expensive war-risk insurance premiums. Crude Oil was sharply lower early Monday after the U.S. paused its bombing campaign against Iran over the weekend. On Sunday, Iran said it will halt its own ​atta

Tidbits Markets: August CBOT options expire Friday. Corn, soybeans, and wheat all gapped higher on the opening Sunday evening; wheat filled the gap and closed lower on Monday. Corn and beans did not fill the gap on Monday, but corn filled it on Tuesday. November soybeans finally made a new contract high by 18¢ at $12.32 and settled up 23¼¢. To learn what the significance of gaps, go to: https://www.wrightonthemarket.com/post/gaps-and-how-to-use-them For a reference, December

Tidbits Iran: U.S. President Donald Trump officially notified Congress of the resumption of hostilities in Iran. Crude oil prices rose significantly again, to about $80. Trump also announced that the U.S. would impose a 20% tax on all cargo transported through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, for its part, declared that it would not allow the U.S. to interfere with the management of the Strait of Hormuz and would treat it as closed. Flash sales: Yesterday, the USDA announced the s

Tidbits Super Typhoon Bavi’s near world record low barometric pressure captured the world headlines Monday morning as weather services connected the low pressure to the strong El Niño and global warming. Then pointed out the El Niño will continue to strengthen into December and January and exaggerated the potential worldwide crop production problems. The strength at the CBOT yesterday was all because of the “hype” and not because of any serious immediate crop problems. There

Tidbits Today at 11 AM Central, the USDA will release its Actual Planted acres and Quarterly Grain Stocks Reports. The USDA reported total corn disappearance from 1 December 2025 to 1 March 2026 was 4.258 billion bushels, up 350 million bushels from a year ago. Winter demand is always more than warmer weather demand. The market expects corn disappearance from 1 March to 1 June 2026 to be 3.632 billion bushels, up 128 million bushels from a year ago. Export inspections for the

Tidbits Brazil: Safras & Mercado lowered their Brazilian corn production forecast 200,000 mts to 139.9 million mts, still slightly above the USDA estimate of 138 million mts. IMEA reports the 2nd corn harvest in Mato Grosso has reached 21% vs. only 14% a year ago, however behind the historical average of 23%. AgRural reports that across Brazil 2nd crop harvest has reached 16% just above the year ago pace of 13%. Argentine corn harvest has reached 48% while the Buenos Aires Gr

Market Comment The grain futures will not trade this Friday, 19 June for Juneteenth Day. After this week’s three day weekend, two weeks later will be another three day weekend with the 4th of July. July grain options expire on 26 June, that is a week from this Friday. Long July futures and basis contracts must be rolled or cashed out by the close of business on Monday 29 June. Your grain merchandiser may have house rules that require July basis contracts rolled or liquidated

Tidbits July corn traded down to $4.12½ yesterday morning, but settled 6¼¢ above the low and up 1¼¢ for the day. A new low followed by a higher daily settlement is a “hook reversal” and a noteworthy technical trend change signal. While it is not as reliable a trend changer as a “key reversal,” we will take it. The settlement 6¼¢ above the low is very significant. Corn basis firmed again Monday and we expect it will continue to firm until futures rally at least 20 to 30¢ to mo

Tidbits Soybeans: Gaurav Kochar is a trader of cash commodities based in India. He reported yesterday a major shift in the world soybean market as India cancelled 25,000 mts of soymeal export contracts and bought 80,000 mts of soybean to import from Africa. It was 5 years ago the last time India imported soybeans. While India is not a big player in the world soybean market, when any world market player goes from an exporter to an importer, it changes the market significantly.