CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Corn futures faced selling pressure for the second consecutive day. Burdensome global supplies and spillover weakness from soybeans lead to losses across the board. December 25 futures lost 3-¼ cents to 426-½. March 26 futures lost 3-¾ cents to 437-¾. December 26 futures lost 1-¾ cents to 461.
• U.S. corn export sales totaled 2.26 million metric tons for the week ended October 2. This is data that had been delayed due to last month’s government shutdown.
• A near-record U.S. harvest is nearing completion, while Brazilian export volumes remain heavy with November shipments expected to be sizable. Vessel activity and recent tenders indicate that buyers are increasingly able to secure U.S. corn at more competitive price levels.
• The International Grains Council raised its forecasts for global wheat and corn production, while a firmer U.S. dollar index limited demand for American exports by making them more expensive for overseas buyers.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day lower for the third consecutive day with little news driving the market. Chinese sales have been slow, and option expiration tomorrow could be contributing to the pressure. January soybeans lost 13-3/4 cents to $11.22-1/2 and March lost 12-1/2 cents to $11.32. December soybean meal lost $4.90 to $314.00 while December soybean oil lost 0.44 cents to 50.66 cents.
• Soybeans and the rest of the grain complex began the day higher but ground lower into the close. On Tuesday soybean futures reversed from recent highs at $11.69-1/2 and finished with a lower close that was likely the start of the price roll-over. Short term support is likely now around $11.00.
• The USDA has finally begun releasing export sales reports in retrograde. For August, soybean sales totaled 2,273k tons which compared to 1,751k tons in July and was up from 1,710k tons last year at this time. China was not listed but will be when the USDA gets up to date export information.
• The CFTC report as of September 30 was also released and showed that funds had sold 9,410 contracts of soybeans leaving them with a net short position of 38,712 contracts. They sold 14,335 contracts of soybean meal increasing their short position to 117,604 contracts and sold 559 contracts of bean oil leaving them short 1,457 contracts.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• All three wheat classes suffered losses on the day, pressured by the rest of the grain complex. December Chicago closed 7-3/4 cents lower to $5.27-00, December KC was down 8-3/4 cents to $5.06-1/4, while December MIAX was down 8-1/2 cents to $5.72-3/4.
• The International Grains Council has raised their global wheat production forecast to 830 mmt for the 2025/26 season, up 3 mmt from the previous forecast.
• Argentina’s wheat production is seen reaching 23.5 mmt, up from the previous estimate of 22.2 mmt and above last year’s 18.5 mmt.
• SovEcon raised their Russian wheat estimate for 2025 to 88.6 mmt, up 0.8 mmt from the groups previous estimate. The group released their first 2026 estimate which sits at 83.8 mmt.
• Precipitation is expected to move through the southern Plains states, which has currently been seen a stretch of drier weather. If rainfall does land, this could pressure wheat prices further.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III futures were under pressure today with double-digit losses in the December through March contracts.
• Spot cheese fell 0.3750 cents today to $1.5825/lb as it hangs at support. Whey was down a half cent but is even on the week at $0.78/lb.
• The December through March Class IV contracts were lower as well with most others unchanged on Thursday.
• Spot butter was down slightly to $1.4775/lb, entering Friday down almost a dime on the week. Powder fell a quarter cent.

Total Farm Marketing and TFM refer to Stewart-Peterson Group Inc., Stewart-Peterson Inc., and SP Risk Services LLC. Stewart-Peterson Group Inc. is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as an introducing broker and is a member of the National Futures Association. Stewart-Peterson Inc. is a publishing company. SP Risk Services LLC is an insurance agency. A customer may have relationships with all three companies. TFM Market Updates is a service of Stewart-Peterson Inc. Futures and options trading involve significant risk of loss and may not be suitable for everyone. Therefore, carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your financial condition.

Author

Amanda Brill