CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Corn futures finished Thursday with moderate gains, supported by trade optimism with China and a strong weekly ethanol report. December corn posted its highest daily close since September 15, gaining 5 cents to 428. March futures added 5 ½ cents to 441 ¼.
• Confirmation by the White House that President Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi next Thursday helped boost market optimism on Thursday.
• Wednesday’s ethanol production report showed strong ethanol production for the second straight week. For the week ending October 12, ethanol production reached 327 million gallons on the week, above expectations and marketing year high.
• Corn futures pushed through a key area of technical resistance, which triggered some short covering during the session on Thursday. A strong technical close leaves the corn market set up for additional upside support going into Friday.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day sharply higher following news that President Trump will meet with China’s Xi next Thursday to discuss a trade deal. November soybeans were up 10 cents to $10.44-3/4 while March was up 12-1/4 to $10.75-1/4. December soybean meal was up $2.30 to $292.30 and December soybean oil gained 0.80 cents to 50.87 cents following gains in crude oil.
• President Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next Thursday in a bilateral meeting that will be part of a multi-country trip to Asia, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing today.  On the Asian trip, Trump will also be meeting with leaders from Malaysia, Japan and Korea.
• Bloomberg estimates for the postponed export sales report for the week ending October 16 see soybean sales in a range between 700k and 2,000k tons with an average guess of 1,200k tons. This would compare to 2,088k last year. An unfounded rumor circulated today suggesting that China may have booked U.S. soybeans.
• In South America, weather has remained unusually dry throughout central Brazil this month which has led to a quickened planting pace for soybeans. The forecast for the next 7 days remains dry with potential showers expected in two weeks from now.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat closed with strength today, led by the Kansas City class. Dec Chi closed 9-1/4 cents higher at 513, KC was up 11-1/2 to 500, and MIAX gained 10-1/4 to 558. Today’s move appears to be largely technical in nature with speculative short covering. Wheat futures likely followed soybeans and crude oil higher after the U.S. announced new sanctions against two major Russian oil companies.
• The International Grains Council has increased their estimate of world 25/26 wheat production by 8 mmt to 827 mmt. If realized, this would be a record high, up 1.1% compared to the previous season, and compares with the USDA estimate of 816.2 mmt. This revision was primarily driven by higher projections for Russian, U.S., and Argentine crops.
• Algeria recently purchased milling wheat, however, the amount may be far larger than the 50,000 mt tender. Reportedly, volumes could be as high as 500-600,000 mt, and the wheat was likely sourced from the Black Sea area. The purchase price is said to be around $259/mt on a CNF basis.
• As of October 21, an estimated 43% of U.S. winter wheat acres are experiencing drought conditions, down from 45% last week. Spring wheat areas in drought were unchanged from last week at 16%.
• Due to the government shutdown, there was no export sales report today. However, a Bloomberg analyst survey suggests an average estimate of 563,000 mt of wheat export sales. The estimates ranged from 350-750,000 mt and compared to 533,000 mt from a year ago.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III futures closed with decent gains in the nearby months today. November garnered 29 cents to finish at $17.43.
• Spot cheese was 0.75 cents lower to $1.74/lb today, entering Friday down 3.25 cents. Spot whey was up another 2 cents to $0.69/lb.
• Class IV futures were unchanged outside of the Q1 2026 contracts, which were up 4 or 5 cents overall. November was unchanged at $13.88.
• Spot butter was 1.75 cents higher on 27 loads traded to settle at $1.5625/lb. Powder was up another half cent to $1.1250/lb.

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Author

Brandon Doherty