CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• The corn market benefited with positive money flow into the grain markets to start the week. Concerns regarding planting pace, a strong demand tone, and possible instability in Brazilian weather helped provide support to corn futures. July corn gained 5 ¾ cents to 469 ¼, while December corn added 5 ¼ cents to 489 ½.
• USDA announced weekly export inspections on Monday morning. For the week ending April 27, Total corn inspections reached 1.644 MMT (64.7 mb), which was in line with expectations. Corn inspections are trending approximately 31% of last year’s pace.
• As Brazilian corn planting is wrapping up, approximately 1/3 of the Brazil crop will be planted past key weather window. Recent forecast for rainfall looks to be disappointing, which could lead to a reduction in crop forecast and reduced corn exports from Brazil this summer.
• Wet weather across the majority of the Corn Belt forecasted for the first part of the week will likely delay the start of planting in some corn-producing areas. The next update will be released on the USDA crop progress report on Monday afternoon.
• Managed money stepped back into the long side of the corn market on Last week’s Commitment of Traders report. Managed funds added nearly 25,000 net long positions as strong demand and slow planting pace helped support the market.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day higher driven by sharply higher soybean meal prices and gains across the whole grain complex. May soybeans gained 13-1/2 cents to $11.77-1/4 while November gained 10 cents to $11.65-3/4. May soybean meal gained $9.50 to $333.80 and May soybean oil gained 0.35 cents to 72.26 cents. First notice day for all May grains is on April 30.
• Today’s export inspections report came in within the average trade range for soybeans. Inspections totaled 23.1 million bushels for the week ending April 23rd, bringing the 25/26 marketing year total to 1.206 billion bushels, down 20% from a year ago. The USDA is currently estimating soybean exports will finish down 18% year over year.
• Fertilizer availability could become a factor in soybean prices, as some farmers may favor planting additional soybean acres over corn if fertilizer supplies fall short. While any shift this season will likely be minor, it could carry significant implications for next season, particularly if distribution bottlenecks persist even after the Strait is reopened.
• Friday’s CFTC data saw funds as buyers of soybeans as of April 21. Managed Money bought 17,733 soybeans, increasing their net long position to 12,884 contracts. They bought 17,124 contracts of soybean oil leaving them with a net long position of 165,444 contracts and sold 14,887 contracts of soybean meal leaving them long 120,856 contracts. Funds are near record long the soybean complex.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat closed higher, led by double-digit gains in SRW futures. The cancellation of in-person negotiations in the Iran conflict contributed to the firmer trade, though phone discussions are still said to be ongoing. Spillover support from gains in corn and soybean futures also lent additional lift to the market. The main influence, however, was likely the expectation that winter wheat conditions will slip again in this afternoon’s crop progress report. In the May contract, Chicago gained 13-1/4 cents to 621-1/2, Kansas City climbed 8-1/4 cents to 667-1/4, and MIAX was unchanged at 676.
• Weekly wheat export inspections came in at 13.4 mb, which brings total 25/26 inspections to 803 mb, up 12% from last year. Inspections are running above the USDA’s estimated pace; total exports in 25/26 are forecasted at 900 mb, up 9% from the year prior.
• Saudi Arabia is reported to have purchased more wheat than they were originally tendering for. They ended up buying 985,000 mt of optional hard wheat at 12.5 protein, for shipment in June to August. Price is said to range from $273 to $285/mt on a CNF basis. It is likely to be sourced from the Black Sea region; the original tender was for only 710,000 mt. In related news, the Philippines purchased 50,000 mt of Australian feed wheat.
• According to Friday’s Commitments of Traders report from the CFTC, managed funds purchased about 11,000 contracts of Kansas City wheat for the week ended April 21. This brings their net long position for that class to just over 28,000 contracts, the largest since June of 2022. Meanwhile, they sold almost 3,500 contracts of Chicago wheat, bringing their net short for that class just shy of 11,000 contracts.
• The Indian government is said to be “cautiously optimistic” in regard to the 2026 wheat crop. There have been no major reports of yield loss due to disease or insects. However, there are isolated areas that have seen yield or quality concerns after unseasonably high temperatures in February, followed later by hail in some areas. Any losses are anticipated to be offset by an increase in planted area of 0.6 million hectares for the 25/26 season.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• lass III futures were seen improving on the day with August through November contracts trading into new highs. 
• Spot cheese improved 0.375 cents to close at $1.63375/lb while whey tacked on half a cent to go home at $0.7025/lb.
• Class IV futures continue to find strength thanks to a surging powder market. May through November contracts pushed into new highs on the day. 
• Spot butter was pressured lower, dropping 1.75 cents to $1.6875/llb. Powder continues to hold at $2.26/lb.

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Author

Amanda Brill