Grain Marketing Education, News & Strategies

USDA’s July S&D Yesterday’s USDA numbers were supportive for corn, wheat, and beans, but wheat got an extra boost from Russia restricting access to waterways leading to the Sea of Azov (southeast of Ukraine) following Ukrainian attacks on oil tankers operating in the region. Analysts calculate that could take 735 million bushels off the world wheat market. Russia is the world’s leading wheat exporter. Confirmation from USDA that U.S. 2026 wheat production is the lowest in 56

Tidbits July CBOT options expire Friday. All long July futures and July basis contracts must be liquidated or rolled no later than Monday to avoid any possibility of being assigned delivery. July corn was a bit stronger than September corn yesterday. That is good if you have July futures or basis contracts to roll to September. Flash sales: Yesterday morning, the USDA reported the sale of 30,000 mt of old crop corn and 70,000 mts of new crop corn to Mexico. Livestock: The num

Tidbits The Heart of the Midwest is having some rough weather this morning. Be careful and be safe! Weekly Basis: Because Friday was a Federal holiday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) did not issue its weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) report. The COT will be issued on Monday afternoon. Therefore, our Weekly Basis report will be issued Tuesday morning. December corn made its high for the year on this date in 2023 at $6.29¾. The U.S. new crop corn carryo

Tidbits After the CBOT breakfast break yesterday morning, corn, wheat, and beans jumped sharply higher for no apparent reason. More than an hour later, Eduardo Vanin of AgrInvest Commodities reported that China was rumored to be asking for quotes on U.S. soybeans for Oct to Mar shipment because Brazil’s FOB quotes were so much higher than they were a year ago for the same shipment period. DTN reports old crop corn basis is perking up in the PNW for July-Sep +130 to +135; June

Tidbits Mexico’s main meat industry group said yesterday it aims to double beef exports to the ‌United States next year, seeking to offset losses from a border closure triggered by a screwworm outbreak. In the first four months of the year, Mexican beef exports to the U.S. increased by about 23% according to officials of the Mexican ​Meat Chamber, who said fresh meat accounts for most of what is exported. The U.S. border has been closed to Mexican livestock for about a year.

Highlights Biofuel: Jarrett Renshaw is a White House reporter for Reuters with a focus on energy policy. He reported late yesterday afternoon: “The Trump administration will release biofuel quotas 2026/27 this week, sometime before Friday's farm event at White House. The quotas have not been materially changed by Iran war price spike concerns, I'm told.” Later yesterday, Renshaw reported: “Trump is expected to waive summer gasoline blending rules - pave way for summer E15 sal

Highlights: Iran Shortly after 6 AM Central time yesterday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran and the U.S. had engaged in “good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution” of the hostilities. Consequently, Trump wrote that he had ordered the Department of War to postpone all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days. That sent crude oil down $10 and CBOT markets went from smartly higher to low

Tidbits Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 336,000 mts of old crop soybeans to China. China’s state stockpiler Sinograin purchased 10 U.S. soybean cargoes this week, totaling about 600,000 mts for March–May shipment, the total U.S. crop purchases are now estimated at 8.5–10 million mts, up to 80% of the 12 million mts Secretary Scott Bessent said China pledged to buy by end-February. Venezuela’s Stock Market was up 17% on Monday and 50% yesterday after Nicolás

Tidbits Farm Aid: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the Trump administration will unveil a “bridge payment” for farmers next week to provide short-term relief while longer trade and aid packages are finalized, amid pressure from farm groups and Republican lawmakers. The administration faces calls for more immediate funds for the next planting season, while expanding some farm supports in the latest spending bill. Overall, the U.S. government is expected to spend

Tidbits September CBOT options expire today. All September basis contracts and long September futures positions need to be liquidated or rolled forward by the close of business on 28 August, next Thursday. Your merchandiser’s “house rules” may require action before the 28th. Soybeans to China: Fox News reported late yesterday U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent told President Caleb Ragland of the American Soybean Association and the Governor of Ohio: “We are in the process of

Tidbits Yesterday at midday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the trade talks with China in London were going well and he hoped they would end on Tuesday night but said they could run into Wednesday. Later, he said the two sides have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between their respective presidents. ADM reports Trump is looking at rolling back the port fees on China vessels scheduled to take effect in October. Dr. Cordonnier inc

Tidbits Barchart.com is one of the most popular charting services for every market (stocks, bonds, options, commodities, indexes, etc.). Barchart provides a lot of free information as well as many other services for a fee. Every business day, Barchart reports the conclusion of thirteen purely technical analysis systems to recommend if an investor should buy, sell, or hold a given investment item. The results are computer generated. Therefore, we conclude there is no human opi

Highlights Crude oil was higher yesterday in past because of this press release yesterday morning from the U.S. Treasury: Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating a “teapot” oil refinery and its chief executive officer for purchasing and refining hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian crude oil, including from vessels linked to the Foreign Terrorist Organization, Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, and th

Tidbits Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said yesterday afternoon interest rates will not be changed this month, but he weighed in on the state of the US economy. His outlook was not reassuring, which was not a surprise knowing he hates Trump. Powell said Trump’s policies are one reason why inflation is reigniting. Powell said the Fed sharply reduced its 2025 growth projection for the U.S. economy and noted that uncertainty around the slowing economy is increasing. Powe

Highlights Early yesterday afternoon, President Trump said, "After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement until April 2nd. Mexico’s President Sheinbaum said, "We had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results, within the framework of respect for our sovereignties." Sheinbaum

Highlights The USDA made no changes on the domestic corn and soybean S&D other than increasing the average price expected to be paid to...

Highlights Several of our Eastern Corn Belt clients informed us yesterday afternoon and evening that the wind on the wet corn stalks really knocked a lot of corn down late Friday to Saturday morning. Bob told us the Case IH dealer in Urbana of Champaign County, Ohio sold two corn reels yesterday morning. Soybean yields from about a dozen farms in northeast Illinois range from 25.4 to 65.1. Three in the 20's, one 39 bu, three in the 40's, one 53.7, and two in the 60's. T

Tidbits March U.S. manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers index) was better than expected at 52.5, services PMI was below expectation at 51.7, values above 50 imply expansion. Existing home sales were better than expected at 4.38 million. Jobless claims at 210k were less than expected. Iowa is facing drought for the 4th year in a row. Today's drought monitor showed at least abnormally dry conditions with 23% for corn and 19% for beans. Seasonal outlooks, released by NOAA to

FSA Program News and Updates The 2024 ARC/PLC Program enrollment and election change deadline is March 15, 2024. To be enrolled in the program you MUST sign a contract every year; the program does not auto-renew. CRP General Sign Up is underway. All General offers need to be submitted by March 29, 2024, for the ranking process. CONAB production report to be released within a few hours. Highlights Definition of “B3” is short for the São Paulo Stock, Commodities and Futur

Tidbits USDA reported yesterday morning China canceled their purchase of 130,000 mts of old soft red winter wheat. China’s exports and imports for the first two months of the year were above expectations. This is viewed as an indication that demand may be improving, and the Chinese government has been attempting to speed up its economy. Exports were up 7.1% from a year ago, while imports were up 3.5% as compared to the same period last year. Dr. Michael Cordonnier reports t