CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Corn posted modest gains on Thursday as continued strength in the energy markets helped support both corn and soybean futures. September corn added 2 cents to 464, and December futures gained 2 ¾ cents to 487 ½. For the week, December corn has gained 20 cents going into Friday trade.
• Weekly export sales for corn were lackluster on Thursday morning’s USDA export sales report. For the week ending July 16, U.S. exporters reported new sales of 333,000 MT (13.1 mb) of old crop, and 702,000 MT (27.6 mb) of new crop corn. Old crop sales have run below or near the low end of expectations in the past 4 weeks.
• Escalated tensions between the U.S. and Iran have pushed crude oil futures higher this week. Front end crude futures traded 5-6% higher on the session Thursday as the market remains concerned about disrupted flow of crude oil out of the Middle East. For the week, September crude oil futures have added over $10.00 of value going into Friday trade,
• Weather forecasts for the Corn Belt are expected to see above-normal temperature trend and normal to below-normal precipitation forecast into August. The corn market has added some weather premium as the crop is hitting key development stages.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day higher again and closed at the highest closes across all contracts. Higher crude oil was a large driver behind the move today. August soybeans gained 4-1/2 cents to $12.37-1/2 while November soybeans gained 4-3/4 cents to $12.43-3/4. August soybean meal lost $1.70 to $329.90 and August soybean oil gained 0.11 cents to 75.59 cents.
• Today’s export sales were within analyst expectations for soybeans with an increase of 2.1 million bushels for 25/26 and an increase of 56.5 mb for 26/27. Sales were down 70% from last week and the 4-week average, and top buyers were China, the Netherlands, and Mexico.
• China purchased another 1 million metric tons of new crop soybeans. China now has 2.26 mmt (83 million bushels) of beans on the books for 2026/27 which is out of the 25 mmt they committed to purchase. Last week’s overall export shipments of 11.0 mb were below the 15.6 mb needed each week to meet the USDA estimates.
• Crude oil has jumped by over $22.50 a barrel so far this month as a result of escalations and end of the ceasefire with Iran. This has caused soybean oil to increase by 8.66 cents so far this month. The gains in crude have bled over to boost other grains as well, and it does not appear that a peace agreement is near.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat finished the session with losses in all three classes. The only exceptions were September and December Minneapolis wheat, which eked out a positive close. It is likely that today’s action was largely profit taking after the recent run higher and after having become technically overbought. Furthermore, the U.S. Dollar Index was up sharply today, which may have contributed to weakness. In the September contract, Chicago fell 9-1/2 cents to 696-1/4, Kansas City dropped 3-3/4 cents to 759-3/4, and MIAX gained 1 cent to 730.
• The USDA reported an increase of 10.7 mb of wheat export sales for 26/27. Shipments last week totaled 7.7 mb, which falls under the 14.6 mb pace needed per week to reach their 775 mb export goal. Total 26/27 wheat export commitments have reached 244 mb, down 26% from last year.
• Day 2 of the spring wheat tour estimated yields in the northwestern area of North Dakota at 48 bpa. This was above the 47.1 bpa yield found a year ago. Crop scouts reportedly saw better field conditions on day 2, compared with day 1. The tour concludes today, with results expected later this afternoon.
• According to the European Commission, EU soft wheat exports July 1 through July 19 are down 46% year-on-year at 466,908 mt. Leading importers of this wheat include Nigeria, Indonesia, and Angola. Additionally, their total grain exports fell 61% while imports increased 11%.
• Rusagortrans has projected Russia’s July wheat exports at 2.1 mmt, which is in line with their previous estimate. Several analysts, on the other hand, have lowered their estimates of Russian wheat exports for the month of July by 13% to 20%. This is said to be due to a late harvest as well as shipping restrictions in the Black Sea area. Russia has reportedly issued a ban on vessels moving at night, in and out of the Novorossiysk port due to Ukrainian drone attacks – this is their largest port by volume and handles shipments of grain, oil, and metals, among other goods.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• August Class III futures gave back 31 cents today with follow through pressure that started after yesterday’s Milk Production report.
• Cheese closed slightly higher at a new 2026 high as it slowly adds value. Whey was down a penny to $0.69/lb.
• It was more of the same for Class IV futures as they were unchanged to lower today. August lost a nickel for a $16.75 close.
• Butter lost three cents today while powder lost a penny, continuing to drag on Class IV futures.

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Author

Amanda Brill