Grain Marketing Education, News & Strategies

Tidbits Crude oil gapped lower on the opening last evening and traded more than $5 lower in the first half hour of trading on the expectation that the Strait of Hormuz will be opened in a matter of days. Iran: President Trump said on Sunday he had told his representatives not to rush into any deal with Iran. He played down hopes of an imminent breakthrough that had been raised on Saturday. Trump said the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz will remain in

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.

Tidbits The USDA will release its May S&D at 11 AM Central today, which will include the first of 36 monthly estimates for the 2026/27 crops. Flash Sale: Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 220,000 mts of old crop corn, 160,000 mts of new crop corn to Mexico and 128,000 mts of old crop to South Korea. China’s annual inflation accelerated to 1.2% in April 2026 from 1% in the previous month, exceeding market expectations of 0.8%. President Trump will arrive in Chi

Tidbits It is amazing how suddenly “everyone” trusts Communist China to do what they say they will do when it comes to business transactions. The South China Post reported early Thursday that China’s President Xi and President Trump will extend the trade war truce by as much as a year when they meet Beijing in early April. March soybeans made a new high for the move yesterday, left a quarter cent gap on the chart, and settled higher than any day since the first day of Decembe

Tidbits Beef: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday aimed at making beef more affordable for Americans by increasing the allowable imports of lean beef trimmings from Argentina. The executive order, titled Ensuring Affordable Beef for the American Consumer, temporarily increases the import quota quantity of lean beef trimmings under the U.S. tariff-rate quota by 80,000 metric tons, allocating the additional volume entirely to Argentina. U.S. Basis: GraInfor

Tidbits President Trump said yesterday afternoon he will not slap a tariff on any European nations on 1 February who opposed his aggressive efforts to gain control of Greenland. Following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Davos, Switzerland yesterday, Trump said they formed the framework of a future deal for Greenland. He said: “I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.” NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said: “Discussions among

Tidbits The commander of the Iranian Army Navy, Admiral Shahram Irani, stated yesterday that the 104th Iranian flotilla is headed towards South America with the objective of escorting freighters. President Donald Trump said the United States had dealt a deadly blow to ISIS terrorists in northwestern Nigeria. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissed a Bloomberg report about Russia adjusting its Ukraine peace plan as fake news saying Bloomberg has no reli

Tidbits Ukraine’s President Zelensky's powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who has headed Ukraine's peace negotiation team, quit yesterday, hours after anti-corruption agents raided and searched his home. A wide-spread probe into high-level corruption has sparked public outrage and thrust its leadership into crisis as Trump increases the pressure on Zelensky to reach a settlement. Crude oil: Two Russian shadow fleet tankers were struck, and likely destroyed, north of th

Tidbits President Donald Trump is committed to providing Americans a $2,000 check using money that has come into government coffers from Trump's tariffs. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump's staff is exploring how to go about making the plan a reality. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote today to end the government shutdown. OPEC revised its crude oil demand projections for 2026 from higher to about unchanged to show a “ba

Tidbits Every month the USDA issues a Cold Storage Report. They are usually not significant for grains, but Wednesday’s report showed all but one of the food categories in the nation’s commercial freezers are substantially less than a year ago: red meat down 4%; beef down 1%; pork down 7% including bellies down 26% (just before BLT season), cheese down 2%, and butter down 5%. Only American cheese inventory was up, 5% more than a year ago. “American cheese” is a distinct produ

Highlights The White House issued this press release shortly after 1:15 PM EDT Sunday: Reuters News Service, May 11, 2025:17 PM EDT: The U.S. and China ended high-stakes trade talks on a positive note on Sunday, with U.S. officials touting a "deal" to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, while Chinese officials said the sides had reached "important consensus" and agreed to launch another new economic dialogue forum. Neither side released details after they wrapped up two days of

Tidbits Corn was hit hard yesterday by the expected increase in 2025 acres, improved weather in South America, and first notice day for deliveries on March futures, all of which is old news. Improved weather for soybean harvest means more safrinha corn will get planted and Argentina’s dry areas will get a drink, but that does not change the fact the world is short of corn. After Friday’s price decline, we were surprised to see corn so weak yesterday. Soybeans traded to the bo

Highlights It is very important to understand Friday’s price gains for corn and beans were based upon production cuts, not demand increases. While there will be increases in demand in the coming months, the production cuts for 2024 U.S. crops are behind us and there will be no more production adjustments until possibly some minor adjustment in September, after the marketing year is over. Brazilian grain trader, Eduardo Vanin, Friday evening reported exporters were booking

Tidbits The farm bill will provide nearly $31 billion in disaster and economic aid to farmers, but it looks like it will be late March before payments are made. You can read DTN’s summary of the Farm Bill's financial aid at this link. The Soybean Seasonal Trend the next 30 days is very predictable. We covered this two weeks ago and here it is again. The past 6 years, March soybeans have lost an average of 88½¢ as the market priced-in Brazil’s soybean crop being made in the

Highlights Tomorrow at 10 AM Mountain Time the USDA will issue its August S&D. It will include yield adjustments for 2024 corn and beans. If you looked at the estimates we sent you on Thursday, August 8th, corn production is expected to be just 12 million bushels (0.008%) more than the USDA’s July production number. Did you notice the expected corn carryover tomorrow is expected to be 1 million bushels smaller than USDA’s July S&D for both the old and new crop corn and the

Highlights China returns to work today after their 15-day Lunar New Year Celebration. Reuters News Service reports there are signs that the China gloom and doom may be lifting, even if only temporarily. Equities have rebounded this year from five-year lows, and official figures on Sunday showed that tourism revenues in the Lunar New Year holidays were 47.3% more than last year and 7.7% more than pre-COVID levels of 2019. The data will offer relief to financial policy makers

Highlights Dr. Michael Cordonnier, the guru of South American crop production, wrote on Friday: "Farmers in Mato Grosso have a difficult decision to make concerning their 2023/24 safrinha corn. Soybean planting in many areas of the state has been delayed due to hot and dry conditions and some of the early planted soybeans will need to be replanted. These delays will result in a delay in planting the safrinha corn in January and February. The ideal planting window for safrin