CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Buying energy was seen across the commodity complex to start the week as the prospects improved that the government shutdown could end this week, and strong export inspections supported corn. December corn futures gained 2 ½ cents to 429 ¾, while March added 2 ½ as well to 444 ½.
• The potential that the government shutdown is nearing its end, buyer step into the corn market with the prospects of a free flow of information. That lack of information has kept the corn market in a sideways trading range over the past couple of weeks.
• Corn harvest is nearly complete as analyst expect corn harvest to be 92% according to a Reuter’s poll. This was up from 83% last week. With harvest in the final stages, harvest pressure is likely out of the market, and the cash market and basis will need to work to move corn bushels.
• Weekly export inspections remain strong with total inspections for the week ending Nov 6 at 1.425 MMT (56.1 mb). This was toward the low end of expectations, but the 2025-26 marketing year is seeing the best inspection total for the last 18 years. The export pace is ahead of the USDA pace for the marketing year.
• The USDA will release its November WASDE report on November 14, marking the first update since September due to the government shutdown. Traders are anticipating potential volatility around the release. Private analyst groups will likely release their projection for this report over the next few days.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day higher despite sluggish export inspections and concerns over Chinese purchases. Hope that the government will re-open soon supported the market. November soybeans gained 14-1/4 cents to $11.16, and March gained 13-1/2 cents to $11.39-1/4. December soybean meal was up $2.90 to $320 and December soybean oil gained 0.90 cents to 50.58 cents.
• Traders seemed optimistic today as Senators have reportedly reached a deal that could potentially end the government shutdown. All USDA reports have been indefinitely postponed during the shutdown, but a WASDE report will be released this Friday.
• Today’s export inspections report saw soybean inspections total 40 mb for the week ending November 6. While this was within trade estimates, recent Chinese purchases were not included in the report. This could be the result of an understaffed USDA, or the possibility that China did not purchase the soybeans recently expected.
• Analysts say that they see the US soybean harvest around 96% complete as of Sunday. While most estimates see soybean yields steady from last year, the USDA has not released a crop progress report since September 29. Regardless, the U.S. is expected to produce a large crop.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat closed with gains across each class. December Chicago was up 8 cents at 535-3/4, Kansas City gained 7-3/4 to 527, and MIAX closed 6-1/4 higher at 564-1/4. Today’s higher trade for the commodity complex, as a whole, could be tied to optimism that the US government may soon re-open.
• Weekly wheat inspections amounted to 10.7 mb, which brings total 25/26 inspections to 445 mb, up 19% from last year. Wheat inspections are running above the USDA’s estimated pace; total 25/26 exports are forecasted at 900 mb, up 9% from last year.
• SovEcon is estimating Russian wheat exports for the month of November will total 4.7 mmt. Meanwhile, IKAR expects shipments will reach between 5.2-5.4 mmt. Additionally, IKAR has reported Russian wheat export values ended last week at $232/mt, up $1.50 from the week prior.
• Egypt is reported to have purchased 500,000 mt of wheat for shipment in the December / January timeframe. About 40% of that is expected to come from Russia, with the remainder sourced from Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria.
• In Argentina, soil moisture is abundant throughout most of the country. This week, Tuesday and Wednesday, a storm front may bring additional moisture, but a drier pattern is expected to emerge after that. In general, the wheat crop has seen decent weather, although recurrent rains have caused some concern about disease pressure.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III milk futures were able to improve despite recent weakness in the cheese trade. December futures tacked on 17 cents to close at $17.15.
• Spot cheese continued to build on last week’s weakness, dropping slightly $1.67875/lb. Whey prices improved to their best price since January at $0.73/lb.
• Class IV milk futures were quiet on the day with just the December through February contracts seeing price improvements. January futures climbed 13 cents to close at $13.88.
• Spot butter finds itself improving to start the week, jumping 3.50 cents to go home at $1.51/lb. Powder prices were steady at $1.1450/lb.
• Today’s Milk Production report showed September production totaling 18.990 billion pounds, up 4.0% from September 2024. 

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Author

Brandon Doherty