CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• The corn market saw some price recovery with marginal gains starting the week after the strong selling pressure after the USDA report last Friday. December corn gained 3 ¼ cents to 483, while March futures added 3 cents to 497 ¼.
• The news was quiet on Monday as government offices were closed for the Columbus Day holiday. Typical Monday information on Weekly Export Inspections and Crop Progress reports will be delayed until Tuesday.
• Managed Funds have been reducing their net long position in the corn market. On Friday’s Commitment of Traders report, funds liquidated over 60,000 contracts to a net long position of 317,359 contracts. Estimates forecasted funds liquidated another 70,000 contracts on Friday after the USDA report.
• After a good week of harvest weather, a wet weather forecast looks to return to the Corn Belt this week. This could limit harvest progress on the week in general.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans closed lower to start the week, unable to find any support throughout the session amid a lack of supportive market news. November soybeans ended 3-3/4 cents lower at 12.88-1/4 and January soybeans also 3-3/4 cents lower at 13.05.
• U.S. soybean harvest is nearing 50% completion and continues to progress, particularly in areas west of the Mississippi River, increasing soybean availability for crushers. This should help ease tightness in the soybean meal market. Rain is forecast across the Southern Plains and into the Lower Midwest this week, followed by a much drier pattern in the 6–10 day outlook.
• Patria AgroNegocios reports Brazil’s soybean planting is 20% complete, the fastest pace on record and well above the five-year average of 11.55%. Weather conditions across Brazil remain mixed, but no major issues have been reported at this time.
• Chinese soybean purchases have slowed since late September, with total purchases estimated at 15 MMT. However, China’s Sinograin is scheduled to auction 513,000 MT of soybeans tomorrow, potentially signaling efforts to make room for additional U.S. purchases in the near future.
• The Commitment of Traders report showed managed money traders increased their net long position in soybeans by 10,496 contracts, bringing their total net long position to 251,660 contracts.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Across the three classes, wheat had a mixed close today. MATIF wheat did close positive, aided by the weakening Euro. However, this was largely offset by the opposite effect in the U.S. market; today the U.S. dollar hit a new 18-month high, keeping pressure on wheat. In the December contract, Chicago gained 1-1/4 cents to 672-1/4, Kansas City fell 4 cents to 715-1/4, and MIAX climbed 1 cent to 696-1/4.
• According to Ukrainian President Zelensky, Russia violated the energy ceasefire just shortly after it was announced by President Trump. Crude oil is up about $2/barrel this afternoon as a result, though wheat did not seem to be affected much by this news.
• APK-Inform has increased their estimate of Ukrainian 2026 wheat production by 0.5 mmt to 25.5 mmt. However, they also decreased their export estimate by 6.5% to 31.7 mmt. Meanwhile, IKAR increased their forecast of Russia’s October wheat exports by 0.5 mmt to 3.0 mmt.
• According to Friday’s CFTC data, managed funds sold about 19,000 contracts of wheat across the three classes, in the week ended Tuesday, October 6. This reduced their net long position to about 6,000 contracts, which is the smallest in three months. Given Friday’s lower trade, it is likely this position was further by the end of last week.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III prices found some buyers with Dec’26 through Dec’27 contracts all trading higher. November futures however, lost 3 cents to close at $16.07.
• Spot cheese improved slightly to $1.42125/lb, up 0.25 cents from Friday. Whey was unchanged from last week at $0.86/lb.
• Class IV milk showed some strength today, lifted higher by a strong powder market. November futures tacked on 43 cents to close at $21.25.
• Spot butter dipped half a cent to $1.27/lb which is its lowest price since early 2021. Powder improved to $2.27/lb and looks to retest the all-time high.

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Author

Amanda Brill