Grain Marketing Education, News & Strategies

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 Flash Sales: USDA announced yesterday the sale of 111,000 mts of old crop soybeans to China. China, Reuters reports: China agreed to purchase 25 million mts of U.S. soybeans annually through 2028 at the Busan summit in South Korea last year. U.S. officials say China then agreed to add on another $17 billion in other agricultural product purchases during Trump's visit to Beijing in May. China has never acknowledged those agreements but is nonetheless on track to meet t

Tidbits Wheat was higher in Europe on Monday. Saudi Arabia cancelled its 550,000 mts wheat tender because prices were too high. Russian Exports: Latvia's government plans to impose a ​300% tariff on grain arriving from ‌Russia and Belarus, the Baltic country's Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said on Monday. A ban or ‌high ⁠tariffs could cut off a key alternative at a time when Black Sea and Azov Sea routes have been ​paralysed by ​Ukrainian ⁠drone strikes. Andrey Sizov from So

Tidbits After meeting with President Putin Saturday, American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy and other top Ukrainian officials in Kyiv. Zelenskiy, who believes Washington will be key to ⁠any peace deal, has said a window of opportunity to make peace exists before the U.S. begins focusing on its next presidential election. "Security guarantees are needed. A dignified post-war peace is needed. Our proposals have been drawn u

Tidbits Russian President Putin held more than three hours of "highly useful" talks on Saturday with Americans Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner seeking a deal to end the Ukraine war, a Kremlin aide said, but he gave no indication ‌of any breakthrough. Witkoff and Kushner are in Kyiv today to continue the discussion with Ukrainian authorities. Q&A: Marketing Strategy for Soybeans Jake asked on September first: With the rapid rise in crop prices over the last few weeks, I’m left

Tidbits Iran & Oil: American forces resumed strikes against Iran yesterday, U.S. Central Command has said. In response, Iran launched attacks at U.S. military bases in Iraq and Jordan, according to local state media and the Jordanian Armed Forces. Attacks were also reported in Kuwait and Bahrain. Crude oil prices have surged again.

Tidbits Turkey is discussing a plan to create a new grain corridor in the Black Sea. According to local media, Turkey has intensified diplomatic contacts with Russia and Ukraine. The Chamber of Maritime Commerce of Turkey confirmed that it held meetings at the Ministry of Transport, where they spoke of "intense discussions" regarding a new grain deal. However, no specific deadlines have been mentioned. We do not see any way this grain corridor will be created any time soon, b

Tidbits Photos From East Central South Dakota: 16X30 29,000 population on the field where these ears came from. Fertilizer: Mosaic Company is an American chemical company based in Tampa, Florida, which mines phosphate, potash, and collects urea through various international distribution networks and Mosaic Fertilizantes. It is the largest USA producer of potash and phosphate fertilizers. Drew Crawford is an American financial whiz living in Brazil who established a busi

Tidbits At 11 AM Central Time today, the USDA will issue its monthly USA and world S&D. Conab is also expected to update their Brazilian production forecasts today. Flash Sales: Yesterday, the USDA announced the sale of 136,000 mts of new crop soybeans to China and 180,000 mts of new crop soybean meal to the Philippines. The Black Sea: The Deputy Director of the Commercial Operations Department for Ukraine was cited as the source of a rumor among international grain trade par

Tidbits The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast Sunday evening predicted above normal rainfall and above normal temperatures for the next two weeks in the Corn Belt. This is August, the month that makes or breaks soybean yields. The USDA predicted an average yield of 53 bushels on its July S&D, the same as a year ago, but 2.25 bushels more than 2024 and 2.4 bushels more than 2023. Matt Makens is an atmospheric scientist. He says the current Super El Niño is unlike any

Tidbits Flash sales: Yesterday morning, USDA announced the sale of: 340,000 mts of new crop soybeans to China 256,634 mts of new crop soybeans to Mexico 110,000 mts of new crop soybeans to unknown The International Grains Council (IGC), in its latest Grain Market Report, sees global grains crop dropping by 2.7% (69 million mts) from last year’s record of 2.49 billion mts. Much of the fall is reflected in smaller anticipated corn and wheat crops, but with oats, sorghum and rye

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 Iran: The two week cease fire between Iran versus Israel and the U.S. is very fragile and most likely will collapse. Iran claims Israel has already broken the agreement. Many countries claim Iran has also broken the agreement. The Strait of Hormuz remained shut to vessels sailing without a permit and shippers said they needed more clarity before resuming transit. Marine Traffic data ⁠showed two Greek-owned and two Chinese-owned bulk carriers passed through the strait

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

Tidbits Soy Crush: The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) reported its members crushed 221.654 million bushels of soybeans in January 2026, up 10.6% from a year ago. The market expected a January crush of 218.52 million bushels. The crush was down 1.5% from December because of the cold weather. Soy oil stocks at the end of January were 1.9 billion pounds versus 1.71 billion expected. The USDA will report their version of the January crush on the first business day

Tidbits Flash sale: Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 110,000 mts of old crop corn and 306,000 mts of old crop sorghum to unknown. The dollar index has lost 3.4% in the last 6 trading days. That is supposed to be super bullish for U.S. exports, especially wheat. The storm across the U.S. has cut electricity to millions of people in the U.S., which contributed to reducing crude oil production by 2 million barrels per day and reducing natural gas production by m

Tidbits There was no reasonable explanation for corn, beans and wheat to be smartly lower yesterday. Crude was up more than a dollar early in the day. Corn export inspections for Christmas week were less than previous week, which is to be expected, but were 47% more than a year ago. Soybean export inspections were 54% less and wheat inspections were 11% less than a year ago. Also, the USDA announced the sale of 100,000 mts of old crop soybeans to Egypt. Grain markets will clo

Tidbits Russia-Ukraine: President Trump said he talked to President Putin about two hours yesterday morning before meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelensky yesterday afternoon at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida to discuss a plan to end the 4 year war with Russia. The leaders confirmed that the meeting about a 20-point peace plan was productive, but added that there is more work to be done such as negotiating security guarantees and navigating the future of

Tidbits Flash sale: Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 330,000 mts of old crop soybeans and 66,000 mts of new crop soybeans to China. The ag markets will close at 12:05 PM Central tomorrow and reopen at 8:30 AM Central the day after Christmas. January options expire on Friday. Long January futures and basis contracts need to be liquidated or rolled by the close of business Tuesday, 30 December. CBOT prices were higher yesterday and the basis for corn and beans

Tidbits Flash sale: Yesterday morning, the USDA announced the sale of 100,800 mts of old crop corn to Colombia and 392,500 mts of old crop corn to Mexico. Crude oil jumped 80¢ higher yesterday mid-day when it was revealed that President Putin said he is not going to give-up real estate gains his military has occupied in Ukraine. Russia currently controls 19.2% of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Vladimir Putin visited India for the first time in four years