CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Selling pressure across the grain complex weighed on corn futures Thursday afternoon. A stronger U.S. dollar, weakness in the wheat markets, and favorable weather forecasts for Brazil added to the pressure, triggering additional selling in corn futures. December corn lost 5 ½ cents to 442 ½, while March futures slid 5 ½ cents to 454 ¾.
• The U.S. Dollar Index climbed to its highest level since early April after the latest inflation data came in above expectations. The stronger-than-expected report fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in early December.
• Weekly ethanol production fell by 1.1% to 332 million gallons last week. A total of 111mb of corn was used last week for ethanol production, slightly ahead of the pace to reach the USDA marketing year target.
• USDA will release its weekly Export Sales report Friday morning, with expectations for new sales ranging from 2.0–3.0 MMT. The total is expected to be supported by a large Mexican corn purchase made during the reporting period.
• South American weather remains generally favorable for crop development, with forecasts calling for above-normal rainfall across key growing regions over the next two weeks. Favorable conditions are keeping soybean planting ahead of schedule, which should allow second-crop corn planting to begin within the optimal weather window.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day lower ahead of November contract expiration tomorrow, with a sharp rally in the U.S. dollar adding pressure across the grain complex. Additional pressure came from South American supplies remaining more competitive than U.S. offerings. Although prices broke below Wednesday’s low, soybeans remain in a short-term uptrend this week following the bullish support from the WASDE report.
• November soybean futures expire tomorrow and have little volume. January is the new front month and lost 11-3/4 cents to $12.19, while March lost 13 cents to $12.25. December soybean meal lost $4.30 to $325.40, and December soybean oil lost 0.46 cents to 63.42 cents despite a jump in crude oil by $2.33 to $88.94.
• On Tuesday morning, private exporters reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture export sales of 136,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2026/2027 marketing year. China is also calling for the U.S. to work diligently with China on ensuring that the 60-billion-dollar tariff reduction arrangement comes into effect as soon as possible to create a more favorable import environment.
• Brazilian soy exports are expected to reach 4.37 mmt for the month of November, according to Anec, which would compare to 3.33 mmt the previous week. This may be due to a decline in the value of the Brazilian real compared to other currencies. Soymeal exports are expected to reach 2.57 mmt from 2.23 mmt the previous week.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat futures closed sharply lower alongside the broader grain complex as the U.S. Dollar Index climbed to a fresh 19-month high. A broad risk-off tone across grain markets, combined with likely fund selling, added to the pressure throughout the session. In the December contract, Chicago lost 15-1/4 cents to 584-1/4, Kansas City dropped 17-1/4 cents to 622-1/4, and MIAX fell 12-3/4 cents to 622-3/4.  
• SovEcon has reduced their estimate of Russian wheat exports by 0.7 mmt to 36 mmt. For reference, this falls below the USDA forecast of 39 mmt (which had been revised 1 mmt lower) on the WASDE report earlier this week.
• According to the USDA, as of November 10, U.S. winter wheat acres experiencing drought conditions held steady for the week at 48%. However, that remains 9% above the drought reading at the same time last year. Meanwhile, spring wheat areas in drought declined 1% on the week to 33%.
• According to their agriculture ministry, Russia’s grain harvest has reached 140 mmt in bunker weight, with wheat accounting for 95 mmt of that total. They expect the grain harvest to total 140 mmt in clean weight when all is said and done. Bunker weight is typically 5%-8% greater than clean weight because it includes both moisture and foreign matter in the measurement.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Cheddar blocks fell 6 cents today while barrels dropped 2 to move the average to $1.6425/lb, up less than a penny this week. Whey was up 2 ents.
• This spot market action brought sellers to the Class III market with the second month December contract falling 22 cents to $17.20.
• Butter fell 2.250 cents while powder dropped 2.25 cents to make for a rough day in the Class IV trade. Powder is down 14.75 cents this week so far.
• Despite this, only the December and January Class IV contracts were lower while the remaining 2027 contracts finished with gains.

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Author

John Heinberg