CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Corn futures fought off early session lows and closed higher in Tuesday’s session as good export demand helped support prices. December corn gained 4 ½ cents to 426 ¼, and March added 4 ¼ cents to 443.
• The technical picture for corn improved with today’s price action. December futures held support near 420 and closed at the top of the range above the 100-day moving average, and above yesterday’s high. The strong close could lead to additional short covering and buying strength on Wednesday.
• The USDA announced a flash sale of export corn again on Tuesday morning. Mexico bought 122,947 MT (4.84 mb) of corn, with 100,593 MT (3.96 mb) for this marketing year and 22,354 (880,000 bu) for 2026-27. This was the fourth consecutive morning with an export sale.
• As export demand remains strong, projections for the corn crop stay on the decline. The dry weather and disease pressure has analyst and satellite data pushing the size of the corn crop closer to the trendline average. This would still be a record corn crop with the additional acres added over the past two WASDE reports.
• The corn harvest in the US is progressing in line with the 5-year average. As of September 21, 11% of this year’s crop was harvested, up 4% over last week. Wet weather in some regions will slow harvest to start this week, but long-term forecast look support of a good harvest pace.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day quietly higher breaking a 4-day losing streak and coming back from earlier morning lows that took out yesterday’s low. November soybeans gained 1 cent to $10.12 while March soybeans gained ¾ cent to $10.47-3/4. October soybean meal lost $3.80 to $275.10 and October soybean oil gained 0.18 cent to 49.35 cents.
• Yesterday’s Crop Progress Report saw crop ratings fall by 2 points from last week to 61% good to excellent compared to 64% a year ago. 61% of the crop is dropping leaves compared to the 5-year average of 60%. Harvest is now 9% complete compared to 5% a week ago.
• Yesterday’s export inspections were sluggish for soybeans at 484k tons which compared to 822k last week and 499k a year ago. Top destinations were to Egypt, Indonesia, and United Kingdom. Total inspections for 25/26 are now at 57.7 million bushels, which is up 26% from the previous year.
• Demand concerns remain as recent trade negotiations with China were disheartening to the soybean market due to little progress on soybean exports. The reduced export taxes by Argentina may allow China to cover more needs for Nov-Dec, an area US exporter were hoping to tap into.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat futures rebounded today December contracts of Chicago gaining 9-3/4 cents to 520-1/2, Kansas City up 9-1/4 to 511-1/2, and MIAX gaining 3-3/4 to 567-3/4. With little fresh news, this may be a purely technical bounce. However, there are some reports that firming Russian values may be benefiting global wheat prices –  SovEcon has said that Russian wheat export values rose another dollar (versus last week) to $229/mt.
• According to the USDA, the spring wheat harvest is 96% complete, in line with average and 1% ahead of last year’s pace. Additionally, the winter wheat crop is 20% planted, which is behind both the average and last year’s pace by 3%. Winter wheat is 4% emerged, in line with last year and the average pace.
• Wheat harvest in Brazil is increasing their domestic supply, leading to suppressed prices. According to CONAB, as of September 13, and estimated 13.8% of the wheat area has been harvested.
• Ukraine’s economy ministry has reported that winter grain planting has reached 1.6 million hectares as of September 23. This is down slightly from the 1.8 million sown at the same time last year. This year, winter wheat planting has reached 672,000 hectares, compared with 878,800 last year.
• The Canadian Grain Commission has said that samples of the Canadian durum wheat crop show sprouting damage and mildew, caused by damp weather conditions. Earlier this month, Stats Canada estimated the durum crop at 6.53 mmt – if realized this would be the largest harvest since 2020.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III futures recovered nicely today with solid gains in the Q4 months. October managed 24 cents to close back over $17.00.
• Spot cheese was down slightly with blocks higher and barrels down, closing at $1.62/lb. Whey was unchanged at $0.64/lb.
• Class IV was lower again with the Q4 contracts losing 24, 29, and 28 cents, respectively. October and November closed under $15.00.
• Spot butter was lower once again, dropping 2 cents to settle at $1.68/lb. Spot powder was unchanged.

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Author

Amanda Brill