CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• A positive reaction to the USDA Crop Production report helped push the corn to strong gains on Friday’s session. December corn gains 10 ¼ cents to close at 430, and March corn added 10 cents to 447 ¼. Friday’s close was the highest close on Dec corn since July 18. September corn closed its trading life today, settled at 399 on final trades.
• The USDA released the September WASDE on Friday afternoon. The USDA increased planted acres by 1.5 million acres to 98.7 million acres and also lifted the harvested total to 90 million acres. The acre adjustment was a surprise to the market for the second straight month after adding 2.5 million acres on the August report.
• The yield projection was being closely watched as dry weather has limited the finish on this year’s corn crop.  The USDA lowered the yield forecast by 2.0 bu/a to 186.7 bu/a., down from 188.7 in the August report.
• With the combination of increased acres, but reduced yield, the USDA calculated total production at 16.814 billion bushels, up 73 million from last month. The USDA raised corn exports by 100 mb for the marketing year. The carryout projection for 2025-26 was lowered by 7 mb to 2.110 BB, with a stocks-to-use ratio of 13.1%,
• Ending stocks above 2.0 billion are considered heavy, but buyers stepped into the market believing that the yield projection will continue to decrease. With the current demand strength, the carryout number could trend lower in reports down the road, which is friendly to the corn market.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day sharply higher in volatile trade and in defiance of a relatively bearish WASDE report. November soybeans gained 12-3/4 cents to $10.46-1/4 while March gained 12-1/4 cents to $10.80-1/4. October soybean meal was up $1.50 to $287.60 and October soybean oil gained 0.59 cents to 51.67 cents.
• Today’s WASDE report was bearish with yield estimates revised slightly lower to 53.5 bpa but was above the average trade guess of 53.3 bpa. Soybean planted acreage was revised higher by 200,000 acres and export demand was revised slightly lower. Ending stocks for 25/26 were estimated at 300 mb, which was up from last month’s guess of 290 mb.
• This morning, private exporters reported sales of 22,000 metric tons of soybean oil for delivery to South Korea during the 2025/2026 marketing year.
• China has booked nearly all of its October soybean needs and about 15% of November with higher-priced Brazilian supplies. If a U.S.-China trade deal emerges soon, their purchases of U.S. soybeans could be delayed, creating potential logistical bottlenecks domestically.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat was able to bounce back from early struggles to finish higher on the day. KC led the way higher, with the December contract up 3-1/4 to $5.13-¼, Chicago was 00-1/2 higher to $5.21-3/4, MIAX closed 00-1/4 to $5.71-3/4.
• Today’s WASDE report showed US wheat supplies unchanged while exports were higher and ending stocks were lowered. Exports increased 25 mb to 900 mb while ending stocks were lowered by 25 mb to 844 mb.
• World wheat supplies were up 9 mt to 1,078.6 mt due to increased production estimates globally. Russia’s wheat production was bumped 1.9 mt higher to 140.1 mt based on harvest results. Increased global production could put some downside pressure on domestic wheat prices.
• Conab cut their Brazilian wheat production forecast to 7.54 mmt, down from the groups previous estimate of 7.81 mmt.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III milk futures were once again lower, pressured by the cheese trade. December saw the largest loss of 11 cents for remaining 2025 contracts to close at $16.67.
• Spot cheese fell 1.375 cents to close at $1.61375/lb while whey tacked on 0.75 cents to go home at $0.5925/lb.
• Class IV milk futures were sharply lower on the day pressured by a large drop in spot butter. December futures were down 40 cents to $15.66.
• Spot butter lost nearly 7 cents on the day for a weekly loss of more than 16 cents. Butter now sits at $1.86/lb. Powder fell 0.75 cents to close out the week at $1.1650/lb.

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Author

John Heinberg