CORN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Strong selling pressure in the wheat market and continued negative fund flow helped keep the corn market under pressure on Tuesday. July and December to close with new life of contract lows at the end of the session.  July corn lost 1 ¾ cents to 409 ¾, and December lost 2 ¼ cents to 437 ¼.
• Managed money has extended their net short position in the corn market in last week’s Commitment of Traders report. As of June 16, managed funds were net short 46,427 contracts, down other 41,102 contracts.
• USDA released weekly crop ratings on Monday afternoon. As of June 21, the U.S. corn crop remained 68% G/E, unchanged from last week. At 68% G/E, this is 3% better than the 5-year average but down 2% from last year. Overall, the corn crop is off to a good start.
• The USDA announced a flash export sale of corn on Tuesday morning. Exporters sold 100,000 MT (3.97 mb) to Mexico. Of those bushels, 30,000 Mt were for 2025-26 and 70,000 mt for the 2026-27 marketing year.
• First notice day for July contracts is set for June 30. This window can bring pressure into the corn market and holders of July contracts need to price old crop bushels. In addition, July options expire on June 26, and that can bring extra volatility into the corn market.

SOYBEAN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soybeans ended the day slightly higher despite weakness in both soy products and lower prices in both corn and wheat. July soybeans gained 1-1/4 cent to $11.17 while November gained ¼ cent to $11.41-3/4. July soybean meal gained $3.10, but the deferred contracts were lower. July soybean oil lost 0.56 cents to 70.59 cents as it followed losses in crude oil.
• Yesterday’s Crop Progress report saw crop ratings for soybeans unchanged from last week at 66% good to excellent, and this is exactly on par with ratings from a year ago at this time. 93% of the crop is emerged and 9% is blooming, both are slightly ahead of the 5-year average.
• Chinese imports of soybeans for the month of May rose by 1.8%, but Brazilian shipments fell in that timeframe by 17.7%. This was offset by an increase of purchases by China from the U.S. that was 1.8% higher than last year at this time. In May, China committed to purchasing 25 mmt of soybeans from the US this season.
• Brazilian soybean crush numbers are expected to increase as a result of strong demand according to Abiove. The 2026 crush forecast is now expected to reach 63 mmt which would be up 0.8% from the previous estimate. Total soybean exports are expected to reach 114.1 mmt.

WHEAT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wheat futures continued to move lower on the session, led by losses in spring wheat as rainfall across the Northern Plains and southern Canada improved production prospects. Winter wheat remained under pressure from harvest activity, a stronger U.S. Dollar Index, easing Middle East tensions, and a lack of fresh bullish news. Looking at July contracts, Chicago wheat fell 10-3/4 cents to $5.86-3/4, Kansas City wheat lost 15-1/4 cents to $6.18-1/4, and Minneapolis spring wheat dropped 24-3/4 cents to $5.88.
• According to the USDA’s Crop Progress report, winter wheat conditions fell 1% to 26% good to excellent – this remains the lowest condition for mid-June in 20 years. Additionally, harvest advanced 15% to 40% complete. This is well above the 18% pace from a year ago, and the five-year average of 24% – with harvest moving so quickly, there are likely more abandoned acres than previously thought.
• The USDA also indicated that spring wheat crop conditions fell 1% to 54% good to excellent; this is steady with a year ago. Furthermore, 16% of the spring crop is headed, which is 1% above last year, but in line with the five-year average.
• Argus has increased their estimate of Ukrainian 26/27 wheat production by 0.6 mmt to 24.1 mmt. Expectations for better yields than previously thought (in the southeastern areas) are cited as the reason for the increase. This would also be a 3.4% increase from the 25/26 season.
• SovEcon has reduced their forecast of Russian 26/27 wheat production by 1.4 mmt to 88.9 mmt. This is said to be due to lower spring wheat acreage. The total wheat area, at 25.8 million hectares, is the smallest in 12 years.
• CONAB has indicated that as of June 12, an estimated 59.5% of Brazil’s wheat area has been sown. Furthermore, one of the main production provinces, Parana, is said to have adequate soil moisture. This should help get the crop off to a good start, though there are concerns about negative effects from El Niño in coming months.

DAIRY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Class III futures were two-sided today. The second month July contract fell a dime to $15.87.
• Spot cheese was up 1.25 cents to $1.4375/lb, thanks to a 2.50 cent gain in blocks. Whey was a half cent higher.
• Class IV was mixed today as well with July futures losing 11 cents from Monday’s close. Most contract were unchanged.
• This was surprising given butter fell 5.50 cents and powder lost 1.50 cents.

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Author

Amanda Brill