CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Despite a neutral to friendly USDA crop production report for corn, corn futures stayed under pressure by soybean and wheat futures to finish with moderate losses in the session. December corn lost 3 ½ cents to 530 ¼, while March corn lost 3 ¾ cents to 545 ½.
• The USDA lowered projected yield to 178.5 bu/a, down from 180.7 last month and reduced harvested acres by 100,000 for the 2026-27 marketing year in Friday’s USDA report. This move plus a 25 mb increase in old crop corn export demand, lowered projected 2026-27 carry out to 1.567 BB. This was relatively in line with market expectations.
• Stock-to-use ratio is a closely tracked metric within the corn balance sheets. With the reduced carryout, the 2026-27 ratio was lowered to 9.7%. A stock-to-use ratio below 10% is considered tight by most market analysts for corn.
• The USDA announced weekly export sales on Friday morning.  For the week ending September 3, reported sales for the 2026-27 marketing year totaled 1.929 MMT (75.9 mb). Total commitments for the 2026-27 marketing now total 658.7 mb, down 26% from last year as the new marketing year started on September 1.
• The USDA announced a flash export sale of corn on Friday morning. Mexico purchased 264,000 mt of corn for the 2026-27 marketing year; that is the second reported purchase of corn by Mexico this week.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day sharply lower following today’s USDA report despite relatively neutral numbers. Funds currently hold a near record large net long position and may be taking this opportunity for profit taking ahead of the weekend and as we head into the harvesting period. Lower crude oil may have added some pressure as well. This month, China’s President Xi will meet with President Trump regarding trade, but it is expected to be mostly ceremonial.
• November soybeans lost 35-3/4 cents to $12.96-1/2 but did make a new contract high overnight. March soybeans lost 34 cents to $13.18-3/4. October soybean meal lost $3.80 to $346.80 while October soybean oil lost 2.22 cents to 69.19 cents
• Today’s WASDE report did not hold any major surprises for soybeans and was neutral to slightly friendly. Highlights included an increase in yield to 52.8 bpa from 52.7 bpa last month and a production increase to 4.535 bb from 4.518 bb. Ending stocks were lowered by 10 mb to 310 mb as a result of an increase in export estimates by 25 mb.
• For the week, November soybeans lost 13-1/4 cents while March lost 11-1/2 cents. October soybean meal lost $1.40 on the week, and October soybean oil gained 0.30 cents. Prices could continue to decline into harvest as funds take profits, but if export demand remains strong, prices could continue higher following harvest.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat closed with sharp losses across the board. A relatively neutral USDA report could not alleviate early session weakness, as adjustments to US wheat numbers little changed on today’s report. The next production update will come on the Small Grains Summary report on September 30. In the December contract, Chicago lost 16 cents to 725-1/4, Kansas City dropped 20-1/4 cents to 798-1/2, and MIAX fell 17-1/2 cents to 745.
• The USDA reported an increase of 7.1 mb of wheat export sales for 26/27 and an increase of 0.1 mb for 27/28. Shipments last week at 18.1 mb exceeded the 15.0 mb pace needed per week to reach their 775 mb export goal. Total 26/27 wheat export commitments have reached 322 mb, down 31% from last year.
• On today’s WASDE report, US 26/27 wheat ending stocks were unchanged from last month at 717 mb. On the global front, wheat 25/26 carryout was increased 0.4 mmt to 280.6 mmt, and for 26/27 was raised 3.0 mmt to 276.3 mmt.
• Other notable aspects of todays report include the USDA dropping their estimate of Russian wheat production by 0.5 mmt to 88.0 mmt and increasing Australian production from 28.0 mmt to 31.0 mmt. Ukraine and Canada also saw bumps in production, by 0.6 mmt to 26.0 mmt and 1.0 mmt to 36.0 mmt respectively. On the flipside, EU production fell by 0.4 mmt to 133.8 mmt.
• In other news, the final French survey results confirmed their soft wheat crop was of good quality. An estimated 89% of their crop had protein content over 11%, which is well above the five-year average of 80%. Additionally, premium grade wheat accounted for 53% of the crop, far exceeding the five-year average of 15%. This all comes despite heat and dryness affecting yields this season – the 31.9 mmt harvest was down 4% from last year.
• According to the USDA, as of September 8, an estimated 59% of US winter wheat acres are experiencing drought conditions. This is steady with the week prior. Meanwhile, spring wheat areas in drought dropped a whopping 25% to 57% during the same time period.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Remaining 2026 Class III contracts were mixed on the day with contracts only seeing single-digit moves on either side. October futures held steady at $16.14.
• Both spot cheese and whey were unchanged from Thursday at $1.46125/lb and $0.76/lb, respectively.
• Class IV futures were relatively quiet on the day with October futures losing 11 cents to $19.50 while the November contract lost 5 cents to close at $19.24.
• Powder continues to push higher, gaining 3 cents on the day to end the week at $1.97/lb. Butter was unchanged at $1.37/lb.

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Author

Brandon Doherty