Soybeans Market Overview Last week was a strange one for the market. President Trump had threatened to raise duties on imports from China if there was no r...

Corn and wheat options are bullishly positioned following last week’s news of a potential $50-billion agreement between the U.S. and China. Soybean t...

May 19 Corn closed at $3.7475/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  May 19 Wheat closed at $4.555/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.&n...

The initial (and minimum) price guarantees for the crop revenue insurance program, which represent the daily average of the new crop futures during the mon...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was under pressure last week as it followed the decline of the EU and U.S. markets. Russia is exporting about 500 KMT pe...

Trade War to Worsen Uncertainty around trade has been a burden to the U.S. economy, especially to farmers, and yet more trouble appears to be coming. Follo...

Corn was steady, soybeans were higher, and wheat was lower overnight in light trading volume. Everything was then lower after the first hour of the day ses...

May 19 Corn closed at $3.73/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  May 19 Wheat closed at $4.5725/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.&nb...

There has been much consternation about the pace of U.S. export sales and shipments for the current marketing year. Interestingly, corn and wheat prices ha...

There’s been a spate of activity on Capitol Hill of late on some high-profile ag policy issues. Below is an end-of-the week recap. E15 Waiver In test...

Grain and soy futures were mixed overnight with wheat trying to rally (again), soybeans a bit weaker and corn stuck in between. Trading volume was not impr...

Farm Subsidy Rulings A WTO dispute settlement panel concluded that China violated its obligations by excessively subsidizing wheat and rice production. Rea...

USDA released its Cattle Inventory report today, approximately a month late due to the government shutdown. This follows last Friday’s delayed releas...

With the release this morning of the USDA/FAS export sales report for the week ending 21 February, these reports are back to their regular schedule for the...

U.S. Soy Export Sales Highlights Today’s release of the USDA weekly export sales report for the week ending 21 February indicated unexpectedly large...

May 19 Corn closed at $3.7075/bushel, down $0.03 from yesterday's close.  May 19 Wheat closed at $4.595/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.&n...

WPI's monthly publication features analyses of U.S. agribusinesses, the U.S. farm equipment industry, the U.S. meat and livestock industry, the global outl...

Wheat:  Net sales of 476,400 metric tons for delivery in the 2018/2019 marketing year were reported for Indonesia (170,000 MT), the Philippines (74,10...

Corn and soybean futures prices were fractionally firmer overnight, while wheat prices sought to recover at least a sliver of their February losses. Chicag...

Anti-Competition The U.S. dairy industry complains that the EU’s effort to codify geographic indicator (GI) protection for its various cheese product...

Russian Grain Markets: 18-22 February 2019 Domestic grain prices fluctuated insignificantly, but the average milling wheat export price dropped $6/MT to $2...

May 19 Corn closed at $3.7375/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  May 19 Wheat closed at $4.6675/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close...

Oilseeds Soymeal Inventory Up Slightly as Downstream Demand Falters While China’s central government lifted quarantine restrictions toward the end of...

Overnight trading saw grain and soy prices leak slightly lower following Monday’s big losses. Notable was corn open interest, which fell nearly 69,00...

Low Art of Rhétorique There is much to parse from French President Emmanuel Macron’s speech to the annual Salon International de l’Agric...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.6625/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  May 19 Wheat closed at $4.6825/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close...

If futures markets were to perform logically all the time, they would not be needed. Furthermore, what seems logical to some may seem completely weird to o...

Making Sense of China’s Soy Purchases and Demand Last Friday USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said China’s vice premier had committed that country t...

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has proposed revamping its data collection surveys and reporting process on fuel supplies, production, dis...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Pakistan’s wheat export tender of last week has reportedly received a poor response. It was said...

Fear Your Food The “fear your food” movement has made its mark when it prompts a rant from the top cabinet officer at USDA’s annual Outlo...

As it always does, USDA used its Annual Outlook Forum last week in Washington, DC to update its 10-year baseline projections. The trade of course pays the...

Soybeans Market Overview After a few weeks of good activity with strong purchases from China, the markets were very quiet last week as the U.S.-China trade...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.705/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  May 19 Wheat closed at $4.7275/bushel, down $0.19 from yesterday's close.&n...

More positive news during the weekend regarding the prospects for an agreement to end the U.S.-China trade conflict buoyed the soybean complex both last ni...

The SRW wheat and live cattle options markets are showing unusual patterns that suggests these markets should be watched carefully. The corn market remains...

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue will testify before the House Agriculture Committee on 27 February regarding the state of the farm economy. With trade tensions...

Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on Janua...

In a day full of new fundamental data, it was policy expectations that ruled the CBOT. Corn and soybean futures were mixed and largely lackluster in today&...

End is Near President Trump’s trade war may or may not eventually bring larger economic gains, but its near-term costs are being tallied. U.S. farmer...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7525/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 19 Wheat closed at $4.9175/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.&...

The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the price received by producers when they sell their output, fell for the second consecutive month in Januar...

USDA lowered its estimates for production, imports and exports of beef, which fits with the narrative of a commodity facing threats all around. Every day t...

Higher Early Sugar Production and Slow Exports Could Pressure Prices Due to the early start of the 2018/19 sugarcane crushing season, Indian sugar mills we...

Wheat:  Net sales of 3,574,800 metric tons for delivery in the 2018/2019 marketing year were reported for Nigeria (444,400 MT, including 24,000 MT swi...

USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum opened its two-day run this morning. “Growing Locally, Selling Globally” is the 2019 theme. USDA...

Livestock and Feed Projections USDA’s 95th Agricultural Outlook Forum kicked off today in Washington, DC, which is the official rollout of its 10-yea...

Indo-American Trade War Unlike many other governments, New Delhi had been holding off on counterretaliation against the Trump administration’s Sectio...

As has been widely reported, U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are meeting in Washington this week to push toward some sort of agreement on trade before t...

Trade Deal May Reopen Chinese Market for DDGS U.S. and Chinese negotiators met again today in Washington in an effort to reach an agreement that ends the o...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.755/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $4.865/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close. ...

Today’s markets faced a number of crosscurrents. Besides spreading in China, African swine fever (ASF) has appeared in Vietnam and could well spread...

Carousel Redux Frustrated that the $3 billion in counter-retaliatory duties it imposed on U.S. products has failed to change the Section 232 duties imposed...

Russian Grain Markets: 11-15 February 2019 Domestic grain prices either moved in mixed directions or remained stable. Meanwhile, the average milling wheat...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7075/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $4.8075/bushel, down $0.09 from yesterday's close. ...

Macro Trends Lower Food Prices Push Inflation Down in January With China’s major holiday occurring just around the corner in February, the country ty...

Following the holiday, grain and soy markets began the overnight session just a bit firmer. That lasted until some selling pressure emerged in wheat, which...

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its February Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) last week. Those projections offer a glimmer o...

Indonesian President Promises to Move to B-100 if Reelected Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in a debate that if reelected, he wants to move from requ...

Despite being shortened by the Presidents Day holiday, this should be an interesting week with another “data dump” featured on 22 February. Fir...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.6975/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $4.8975/bushel, down $0.145 from yesterday's close.&n...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Desert locust outbreaks in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are a concern for crops. Much rainfall and strong win...

China Naysayers As Washington and Beijing work toward completing a trade deal, it is clear that not all the U.S. objectives will be accomplished to the sat...

Today the president signed the appropriations bill that will cover the remainder of FY 2019 (through 30 September). The package was passed yesterday in the...

Corn and soybean markets were just slightly firmer overnight with wheat slightly lower following yesterday’s fund-related sell-off. Today then saw co...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7475/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.0425/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close. ...

Thursday’s weekly USDA export sales report, which contained small totals for corn, wheat and soybeans along with sales cancellations of the latter to...

Ample Soybean Supplies Expected to Result in 1 MMT Carryover While the government of India (GOI) has projected 2018/19 (October-September) soybean producti...

Overnight futures trade was limited in volume and price movement. Wheat was slightly weaker, while corn and soybeans hung around Wednesday’s closes...

Summer Supply Destruction The nomination of Andrew Wheeler to become the EPA administrator is being held hostage by a bipartisan and powerful group of sena...

U.S. beef exports hit record levels in 2018. However, tariffs reduced pork shipments, driving down values. These global demand dynamics are reflected in th...

U.S. Soy Export Sales Anyone who expected today’s USDA export sales report for the week ending 3 January to be positive for the soybean sector had to...

Wheat:  Net sales of 131,200 metric tons for 2018/2019--marketing-year low--were down 78 percent from the previous week and 76 percent from the prior...

President Donald Trump, a self-declared “Tariff Man,” has made the threat and use of tariffs one of the chief operating mechanisms of his admin...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7475/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.07/bushel, down $0.1525 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Grain and soy futures markets did very little overnight and again during the day session with volume and volatility in decline. In fact, we would rate toda...

U.S.-Brazil FTA, Not Newly-elected Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is a lean-right populist in the Donald Trump vein. This gives the two leaders a sense...

Russian Grain Markets: 4-8 February 2019 Domestic grain prices all increased except for a few that remained stable. However, the average milling wheat expo...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7875/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.2225/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Market Trends A Tale of Two Years With the shutdown of the U.S. government over (at least temporarily), its official statistics are now available to the ge...

Finnish Supply Destruction Commodity supply and demand forecasts almost uniformly forecast too much of the former and not enough of the latter. A similar s...

Markets are focused on two things – the trade talks this week in Beijing and the threat of another partial U.S. government shutdown on Saturday. Toda...

After a reported breakdown in the budget talks, the lead congressional negotiators met three times on Monday and finally reached what is being called an &l...

If there was surprise contained in the array of USDA reports released last Friday, it was how unremarkable they were. Analysts (including this one) assumed...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7825/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.2/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close. ...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAS/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Egypt’s Cairo3a Poultry, a major company in grain trading and poultry production with other intere...

Brazil Soy Crop Keeps Declining The size of the Brazilian soybean crop seems to decline with each passing week. Most estimates by government and private an...

The Sunday political talk shows painted a dim picture of the ongoing budget discussions between Congress and the administration. Appearing on one of them,...

Difficult negotiations go to the brink for a reason, and that dynamic is being revealed on numerous fronts. U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators are meeting...

The series of important and delayed USDA reports that were released last Friday did take some of the uncertainty away from the markets. The problem, though...

Markets started the week lower in the Sunday evening session with soybeans the weakest followed by wheat and corn. The lower pattern continued through to t...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7275/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1825/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Soybeans Market Update The market was very quiet last week in Brazil, and movement was focused in the U.S. with the Chinese government purchasing another 5...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market remained about unchanged last week. Russia’s domestic market was about 200 rubles ($3)/MT higher. Its exports are...

The House Agriculture Committee met yesterday for its organizational meeting. Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) laid out its agenda for the 116th Cong...

Mixed USMCA Signals Congressional Democrats are signaling both positively and negatively on the prospects for approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement...

Markets were generally better overnight and this morning following Thursday’s pre-USDA report sell-off. Yesterday’s losses were primarily the r...

All had been hoping that the long-awaited USDA reports released today (originally scheduled for publication on 11 January) would reveal new insight, create...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7425/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1725/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.&nb...

According to USDA: U.S. oilseed production for 2018/19 is estimated at 134.0 million tons, down 1.5 million from the previous report.  Smaller soybean...

According to USDA: The soybean crush forecast is raised 10 million bushels to 2,090 million.  Soybean meal production is unchanged as the higher crush...

According to USDA: Soybean production is estimated at 4,544 million bushels, down 56 million.  Harvested area is estimated at 88.1 million acres, down...

According to USDA: U.S. corn production is estimated at 14.420 billion bushels, down 206 million on reduction in yield to 176.4 bushels per acre. Harvested...

Cotton Imports to Surge on Lower Production; Prices Could Remain Depressed The Cotton Association of India (CAI) has now estimated cotton production in 201...

According to USDA: Projected 2018/19 wheat ending stocks are raised 36 million bushels on reduced feed and residual use and lower seed use.  Feed and...

After doing next to nothing for the first three trading days this week while awaiting tomorrow’s USDA reports, traders finally made a move today, and...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.765/bushel, down $0.035 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1325/bushel, down $0.1275 from yesterday's close.&...

U.S. Soy Export Sales Update USDA announced yesterday that exporters had sold an additional 586,000 MT of soybeans to China with all but 63,000 MT to be sh...

Uneven Distribution U.S. Farm Belt bankruptcies have reportedly reached a 10-year high as banks show their displeasure with producer balance sheets hammere...

Having been without significant scheduled data from USDA since 11 December because of the “lapse of funding” (as USDA politely puts it), it is...

Classical Swine Fever in Japan/ASF in China Cases of classical swine fever (CSF), also known as hog cholrea, have been detected in five prefectures in Japa...

This summary is based on reports from exporters for the period December 21-27, 2018. Wheat:  Net sales of 593,000 metric tons for 2018/2019 were up 15...

Agriculture played only a minor role in President Trump’s State of the Union speech last night. He cited the ongoing negotiations with China as an ex...

Russian Grain Markets: 28 January-1 February 2019 Domestic grain prices continued to increase with the exception of a few that remained steady. The slower...

In a classic article covering viewpoints from various European officials toward U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington Post reporters Dan Balz and Griff W...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.26/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Cultural The Year of the Pig is Here This week was the kickoff of China’s largest and longest national holiday of the year, the Spring Festival (also...

Events have conspired to make the reports being released 8 February among the most anticipated in quite some time. The fact that all of them, except the Fe...

The Fed did not raise the federal funds rate at its January meeting. Instead, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell said the Federal Open Market Com...

This morning USDA announced a sale of 2.603 MMT of soybeans to China for 2018/19, part of the second tranche of 5 MMT that Chinese Vice-Premier Liu promise...

Varied Opinions on China The U.S.-invoked trade war with China is entering a critical period, and both its rationale and outcome are widely debated. Presid...

Widely Varying Forecasts for Brazilian Soybean Crop With China resuming its purchases of U.S. soybeans for at least a while, the soybean market’s foc...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8075/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.2725/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. ...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Egypt’s fertile Nile Delta is reportedly suffering from lower water levels in the Nile River, the...

Two-Front Trade War President Trump is likely to highlight trade in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. He needs Congress to pass his USMCA,...

Temperatures across most of Brazil’s major production regions soared late last week into the upper 90s°F. The producer there referenced in the 28...

With the federal government now fully reopened (at least until 15 February) and the EPA likely to soon have a full-time administrator (the Senate Environme...

Corn Argentina’s corn market calmed down last week after seeing big movement the previous week. The main reason that only March shipments are moving...

The grain and oilseed markets were quiet overnight and again today. Volume was light in corn and soybeans but better than average in wheat. The markets wil...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7925/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.2575/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. ...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea FOB market remained about unchanged last week, while the domestic market in Russia was reportedly $2-4 higher. Weather conditio...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7825/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.2425/bushel, up $0.0775 from yesterday's close.&nb...

USMCA Legislative Changes Identified This week the administration presented to Congress a Statement of Administrative Action (SAA), which is its legal view...

President Soybean Chinese and European leaders know where President Donald Trump’s soft spot resides, and it is soybeans. During bilateral trade nego...

Agricultural and equity markets were all about China trade deal optimism today. President Trump was very busy tweeting very positive news about the situati...

Markets have been struggling since the partial government shutdown started due to the lack of any fundamental news that is typically gathered/released by U...

Poultry Sector Suffering Severe Losses; Imported Chicken Cheaper As a follow-up to the issue of rising feed prices that was discussed in the 11 January rep...

Please note: Late word from the White House meeting between the Chinese trade delegation and President Trump indicates that delegation leader Vice-Premier...

Owning the Deal In usual trade negotiations, a U.S. president’s subordinates negotiate, and when there is agreement, it is brought to the leader for...

Extreme Weather Impact The polar vortex and extreme cold conditions have settled across much of the livestock, poultry and dairy producing regions of the U...

Grain and soy futures markets are currently juggling a number of important “balls in the air.” One might say this is always true, and it is. Ou...

U.S. Soy Export Sales Highlights – Finally Today USDA issued its first export sales report in over a month, but only the week ending 20 December was...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.765/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.165/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.&...

Both the CME and CBOT closed in the red today, though selling at the CME (particularly the livestock contracts) was far more aggressive. Cattle futures are...

Wheat:  Net sales of 526,300 metric tons for 2018/2019 were up 68 percent from the previous week, but down 2 percent from the prior 4-week average.&nb...

The government shutdown and suspension of USDA/FAS export sales reports occurred at a time when U.S. corn and wheat export prices were becoming increasingl...

Pickpocket Economics Some U.S. farm groups are clamoring for more subsidies from U.S. taxpayers, but they are likely to get a less favorable reaction from...

Russian Grain Markets: 21-25 January 2019 Most domestic grain prices continued to grow as demand increased. Milling wheat prices also rose because processo...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8125/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1675/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close. ...

The CBOT reversed yesterday’s move lower with some buying support being uncovered today. Today’s higher close was somewhat unconvincing, howeve...

Oilseeds Reduced U.S. Imports and ASF Push Crushers to Cut Activity The temporary lull in the trade war has done little to restore U.S.-China soybean trade...

Note: The CFTC will resume its Commitment of Traders (COT) reports this Friday with release of the 28 December report. Thereafter, it will issue reports ch...

Big Picture Economics The trade war started by President Trump does not deserve all the blame, although it certainly has not helped the world economy. Howe...

Now that USDA has reopened, its reports will resume. The next WASDE report on 8 February will likely include information that would have been contained in...

Brazil’s Soybean Demand in CY 2018 Last week Oil World published soybean usage data for Brazil in CY 2018, which showed it consumed or exported more...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7725/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1325/bushel, down $0.055 from yesterday's close.&...

In just a few days, the calendar will turn to February. This is the time when U.S. row crop farmers begin to get serious about spring planting intentions...

Lack of fundamental news, except better weather for Brazil, left the CBOT to head lower in lackluster trading. Fund selling was notable, especially in whea...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Egypt’s GASC has announced that future wheat tenders will be paid by letters of credit on sight t...

Forest for the Trees Malaysia is threatening to block imports from the EU due to Brussels’ decision to restrict palm oil’s eligibility under th...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7975/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1875/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close...

Soybeans Brazil The soybean market came alive again last week, which was more than welcome after several slow months. Chinese firms were buying some positi...

Options traders remain neutral/bullish corn while retaining their decidedly bullish sentiments about wheat. Soybeans’ options IV curve retains its ne...

Many were hopeful that last Friday’s actions to reopen the U.S. government plus some optimism that this week’s meeting with China will go well...

The partial U.S. government shutdown has come to a temporary end. The country might find itself in the same situation again in just three weeks if Congress...

For the first three weeks of 2019, ethanol production dropped to 1.027 million barrels/day from 1.046 million barrels/day for Q4 2018 and was well below ye...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was very firm last week. Domestic prices in Russia were reported to be $5-8 higher/MT than the previous week. There were...

USG – Next Steps President Trump blinked in the face of a record-long government shutdown, and it is for the better. As we noted more than a week ago...

A short-term deal has been reached to reopen the government until 15 February with a “clean” continuing resolution that contains no funding for...

Markets didn’t do very much overnight in light volume. Corn and soybean futures were a penny higher with wheat down 1-2 cents. Markets then opened th...

Based on optimism that the partial shutdown of the U.S. government might be nearing an end, U.S. financial markets were strong in pre-market trade and open...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8025/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.2/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close. ...

Sugar Production Estimates Lowered Based on new satellite survey data from the Indian Sugar Mills Association’s (ISMA’s) satellite survey of su...

CME grain and soy futures struggled to find volume and price direction amid the continued lack of inputs from USDA and with little else to lead them. Tradi...

Canadian Nutrition Guidelines and the DGA In the U.S., USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are responsible for the update of the Die...

Upstaging Agriculture Just as the Trump administration has a unique penchant for bilateral trade agreements, believing they provide the U.S. with greater l...

Brazilian States' Reduced Soy Crop Forecasts The government of the Brazilian state of Parana today forecast its 2019 soybean crop at 16.8 MMT, down from it...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.77/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.215/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close.&nb...

With fresh USDA data on crop production, quarterly stocks, winter wheat acreage, export sales and changes to supply/demand analyses all suspended by the go...

It is always difficult to trade grain and soy futures based on politics and political rhetoric, and this truism is proving itself once again. Markets were...

U.S.-Japan Prospects Donald Trump is reviled for his efforts at brinksmanship. He is called a fascist and a bully. The approach is fairly common but more d...

Russian Grain Markets: 14-18 January 2019 All domestic grain increased in both RUB and USD expression. The average milling wheat export price rose $3/MT to...

Macroeconomic Trends China’s Economic Slowdown Hits Food and Agricultural Sectors After increases in the cost of food exceeded 3 percent during Septe...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7875/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.26/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close.&nb...

The CBOT was higher in moderate volume trading today with the soy complex finding fundamental support from a few sources and wheat managing to move higher...

It is now well into the second month of the partial government shutdown, and the blackout of the usual information from USDA continues. The only regular re...

Shutdown Informs USMCA The current U.S. government shutdown not only delays the U.S. International Trade Commission’s analysis of the U.S.-Mexico-Can...

Stepped-Up U.S. Soybean Exports to China Today’s USDA export inspections report indicated 416,409 MT of U.S. soybeans were inspected for shipment to...

A high-level Chinese delegation is due to arrive in Washington, DC next week to engage in trade dispute negotiations that are scheduled to begin on 31 Janu...

The Federal Reserve Banks issued the first Beige Book for 2019 on 16 January. The report is published eight times per year (the previous release was on 5 D...

The CBOT was volatile (relative to recent history, at least) today, with futures stronger at the open amid hopes of progress from U.S.-Sino trade talks. Ru...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Last Thursday Egypt reopened the five ports that had been closed the previous Sunday because of weather...

Monday, 21 January is a U.S. holiday. The markets and World Perspectives, Inc. are closed that day. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives...

Trade Policy Wowzas It is a long weekend for the commodity futures market, and policymakers have left a bevy of developments to think about, including the...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has announced the new Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee (see below). First, though, there was...

As said every year at this time when we take a very preliminary look at the corn outlook for the coming marketing year, it will be all about yield. The U.S...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8175/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1775/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close.  M...

Markets had some follow-through overnight from yesterday’s good gains. Wheat and soybeans were up 3-4 cents with corn fractionally higher. None of th...

Rabi Sowing Down As of 18 January 2019, the total rabi planted area was down 4.8 percent versus 2017/18. While wheat is among the crops affected, pulses an...

Grain and soy prices were mildly firmer overnight, based mostly on forecasts that the adverse South American weather conditions would persist at least thro...

Cattle on Feed Report is MIA USDA’s Cattle on Feed (COF) report is normally released on the third Friday of each month. The inventory data is for the...

In these days of the USDA blackout, the soybean market is left to focus on the prospects from U.S. China trade negotiations and South American weather. Of...

Government Shutdown Options Using federal employees as ransom in a White House/congressional fight over a very small federal spending program (border secur...

Malaysia to Double Use of Palm-Based Biodiesel The glut and low prices of palm oil have caused the government of Malaysia to double the blending requiremen...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8/bushel, up $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1775/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  M...

Morning price action at the CBOT was firm but mostly boring. That all changed around midday, however, as rumors of export sales, combined with headlines th...

The missing USDA reports due to the government shutdown receive all of the attention, but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC’s) w...

Diluted Brinksmanship Politicians do not usually make unpleasant decisions until and unless they are forced into a corner. That is the whole point of brink...

Russian Grain Markets: 8-11 January 2019 All domestic grain prices (except for milling rye) rose in RUB expression, but the growth in USD expression was si...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.74/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.125/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. ...

CBOT prices were higher today after yesterday’s selloff. There was little fundamental reason for the move, except that traders must have sold what th...

Oilseeds Sharp Correction in Soymeal Inventory With China’s soybean imports down sharply last month versus December 2017, the nationwide estimated so...

Grain and soy markets tried to generate a “Turnaround Tuesday” during the overnight session but struggled to hold on to minor gains. This diffi...

Pick Your Messenger President Trump assured farmers attending the American Farm Bureau annual meeting that the negotiations with China are going great and...

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) will hold a confirmation hearing tomorrow for Andrew Wheeler, nominated last week by President Trum...

It takes something like the current partial shutdown of the U.S. government to make those involved with agricultural markets realize how much we depend on...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7125/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.11/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.&...

Corn and soybeans plunged today on news from USTR Lighthizer that the U.S. and China made little progress on trade talks. The market had previously been en...

Higher Soybean Inspections Last Week but Not Many for China Yesterday’s USDA export inspections report indicated 1,085,251 MT of soybeans were inspec...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Bad weather in Egypt has closed four ports on the Red Sea and two on the Mediterranean. Very strong win...

Manipulated Eats The year ahead will be packed with various campaigns trying to change the human food consumption pattern. They will be funded by environme...

The new House Democratic majority is in the process of making committee assignments, and the new chairmen are outlining their panels’ agendas. Howeve...

Wheat and soybean futures were lower overnight, and they stuck to that pattern through the day with soybeans opening with steeper losses. Meanwhile, corn w...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.785/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1425/bushel, down $0.0525 from yesterday's close.&n...

.S. soybean supplies at the end of MY 2019/20 could exceed a record 1 billion bushels. However, the following factors could change that outlook: A steep r...

Today’s trading in corn futures and options reflects the increasingly bullish sentiments held by traders. Similarly, despite wheat futures’ rec...

Soybeans Brazil The soybean market remains slow. With China very quiet and Brazil currently cheaper than U.S. Gulf, basis continues to fall. The only movem...

The federal government shutdown is now in day 21, matching the record set in 1995-1996 when the House in the 104th Congress was controlled by Republicans a...

The U.S. government is headed into a record-long shutdown with no end in sight. Americans are fractured politically. There is even talk of civil war on soc...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7825/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.195/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close. ...

Markets rebounded overnight following Thursday’s big losses. It was interesting that no one could come up with a solid reason yesterday for the unexp...

One of the major USDA reports that were supposed to be issued today was the U.S. winter wheat planting estimate. WPI’s own estimate that was discusse...

Pest-Damaged Crop and No Imports Driving Corn Prices After the spot market price of corn in India touched $255/MT in early December 2018, the end user indu...

Grain and soy futures traded quietly overnight amid low volume, and prices were not much changed by the morning recess. The overnight action (or rather the...

Odd Man Up Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is chairman of the powerful U.S. Senate Finance Committee and is at once mainstream and unpredictable. He has said he di...

Animal Disease It’s back! After the hog market was disrupted in 2014/15 by the spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), a new case has been...

Grain and soy futures markets were mostly mired in a pit of bearish mud for the last half of 2018. Years of big U.S. and world crops had resulted in a...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7625/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1375/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close...

Sharp selling emerged at the CBOT today in response to weaker overnight prices. Cash prices for soybeans and corn have weakened in response to farmer selli...

Grain and soy futures prices were slightly firmer overnight across the board. Chicago and KC wheat were up 4-5 cents at one point with corn and soybeans 2-...

Agriculture’s Unique Pedestal It comes with downsides, but U.S. agriculture continues to be highlighted in a manner that would have been unheard of a...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.82/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.2/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar...

Yesterday’s price pressure and commensurate rise in open interest suggested a fair number of new short positions were initiated. Today, however, posi...

Please note that today’s report is abbreviated because of the holidays.   Kazakhstan: 11.5 MMT of Grain Transported by Kazakhstan Temir Zholy in...

Oilseeds Soymeal Inventory Reaches 20-Week High With market data limited last week due to the New Year holiday, there was a lag in reporting. During the tw...

For now, grain and soy markets are mainly about the ongoing trade talks with China, its purchases of soybeans and possibly grain, and South American weathe...

Shutdown The House of Representatives reconvened today with a series of votes scheduled for various appropriations bills aimed at reopening some federal ag...

Sino-American Mirage (Shèn jĭng) The reports out of Beijing are that U.S. and Chinese negotiators have made great progress in their trade talks, eno...

As the partial U.S. government shutdown has moved into its third week with no end in sight, the nation’s press is increasingly focused on the ripple...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1775/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close. ...

China Back in the Market for U.S. Soybeans After a break during the Christmas and New Year holidays, China’s state-owned grain companies were again b...

The Closing Bell Wrap-Up is back after a few weeks’ hiatus working on a few special projects for WPI. Since this article was last written, the grain...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EASTMEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Syria reports that four vessels carrying 80,000 MT of Russian wheat have arrived at its Tartous and Lata...

USG Shutdown Forecast Historical: The partial shutdown of U.S. government (USG) services that began 16 days ago must last until 13 January to beat the 21-d...

The U.S. government shutdown has entered its third week, and there appears to be no end in sight yet. This has affected nearly all of USDA’s reportin...

Reports from China indicate the initial trade talks began with a productive session. Meanwhile, meetings this weekend between Vice President Mike Pence and...

Markets were quiet again overnight, although soybean futures showed some life early this morning and closed the night session a nickel higher with corn ste...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8225/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1675/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close...

Soybeans Market Overview Last week the Chinese Federal Reserve (Sinograin) again bought several vessels of U.S. soybeans, reportedly 1.2-1.5 MMT. Most purc...

Despite futures’ range-bound trading through December and into January, corn options remain positioned bullishly with futures above technical resista...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market remained about unchanged last week. The holiday period in Russia and Ukraine will continue until the end of this week. R...

USDA’s WASDE report will not be released on the regularly scheduled date of 11 January as the Office of the Chief Economist has indicated that it tak...

Most analysts were expecting U.S. winter wheat farmers to increase planted acres this past fall. Moisture conditions across the southern plains were very g...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.83/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.17/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. ...

Plurilateral for NTBs Australia has launched an effort to address the nontariff trade barriers (NTBs) its exporters face. The Aussie beef industry says NTB...

The partial government shutdown continues with little or no progress in talks between Democrats and Republicans. The USDA said next Friday’s importan...

Pulse Prices Continue to Rise; GOI Restricts Imports   India’s Ministry of Commerce has extended the yellow pea import restriction through...

Chinese Pork Situation and Trade Outlook  After the initial finding of African Swine Fever (ASF) in China in August, the disease has been found in thr...

Trade War End or Beginning Some analysts are saying that the downward pressure on both the U.S. and Chinese economies will force a close to the trade war...

The probability is increasing for soybean prices to establish a long-term low during early 2019. End-users are encouraged to utilize any such price decline...

USDA officials indicate that unless the closed parts of the government reopen tomorrow, 4 January, the 11 January reports including the WASDE will almost c...

A substantial portion of Brazil’s soybean-growing areas have been very dry in recent weeks, though some areas got a minor respite last week. Unfortun...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7975/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1375/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close. ...

The results of a recent WPI poll which asked respondents how bullish or bearish they are for grain and soy prices for 2019 were striking. Of the respondent...

Traders began the first trading day of 2019 figuratively wearing the blindfold resulting from the lack of USDA information due to the partial government sh...

Phoney Trade War In September 1939, Hitler’s army imposed the infamous blitzkrieg attack on Poland and, with the complicity of the Soviet Union, the...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7575/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.0675/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Oilseeds Trade War and Weather Made Brazil China’s Main 2018 Source Recently released data from China’s Customs Bureau show how much China came...

Russian Grain Markets:  Most Russian grain and oilseed markets are quiet with many traders on holiday from 1-7 January. Consequently, that section of...

The WPI team extends our best wishes to you and your families for a healthy and Happy New Year. Thank you for your faithful readership, we are looking forw...

Just kidding.  Commodity prices are still going to go up and down. Donald Trump will still be sowing his unique brand of volatility. U.S. House Democr...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.75/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.0325/bushel, down $0.0825 from yesterday's close.&n...

Grain and oilseed markets in 2018 were disappointing for producers, which, of course, means they were good for consumers because prices trended lower, at l...

Happy New Year! Corn and wheat were steady overnight with soybeans 5-6 cents higher. The overnight soy complex optimism was the result of weekend twee...

Congress is in extended recess and most agencies of the executive branch are shut down, which means the only real “policymaking” in Washington...

Due to the New Year's holiday, the weekly MERCOSUR soybean market commetary will be delayed until next week (7 January 2018).   Grains It was a s...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was mostly unchanged last week on limited activity was due to the holiday season in Europe. The Russian domestic wheat m...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.755/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.115/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close.  Ma...

One potential market-related impact of the current government shutdown could be on ag trade going into the New Year. Some issues such as import-export insp...

Markets closed slightly higher in the Thursday night session on very light volume. They then opened firmer this morning with soybeans quickly jumping to ga...

Human nature veers toward concern over the future, but facts are irrefutable. As noted by Steven Pinker in Enlightenment Now, everything in the world is ge...

The world has been happily assuming that Brazil will crush last year’s soybean production estimate in 2019. More acres were sown, and they were plant...

Rapeseed-Mustard Prices Crash as Hopes of Exporting to China Vanish As relations between the U.S. and China thawed and a 90-day truce was called, all hopes...

Today’s CME closing grain market board was very unusual in the array of tiny price changes compared with that of yesterday. MGEX wheat had the bigges...

ASF Found in Chinese Hog Feed China’s General Administration on Customs has discovered African swine fever (ASF) virus in swine feed. It was found sp...

Near the end of every year, we are bombarded with a wide variety of summaries and analyses explaining what occurred that was important, why it was importan...

Trump administration officials meet with their Chinese counterparts the week of 7 January to begin trade negotiations. No one should expect a quick or easy...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.745/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.105/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close. ...

Excess Soymeal Driving Chinse Soy Crushers’ Poor Margins While the U.S.-China trade war has caused losses for the U.S. soybean sector (among others)...

The government remains partially closed and apparently will continue to be into 2019. President Trump is dug in over his demand for funding of the proposed...

Dour Trade Prognosis Respondents to WPI’s last survey favored a resolution to the U.S.-China trade war in 2019 (see Hope versus Expectation below), b...

Russian Grain Markets: 17-21 December 2018 Domestic prices for milling and feed wheat as well as corn continued to rise in RUB expression but decrease in U...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7325/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.1/bushel, down $0.065 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Macro Trends U.S. Agricultural Exports to China Down Nearly 50 Percent in 2018 U.S. agricultural exports to China during January-October were a paltry 14.5...

Markets finished the Sunday night session with corn and soybeans down 3 cents, while wheat markets were mostly steady. They opened almost exactly at those...

Market participation and trading volume are both usually light over the Christmas holiday, and that should also be the case though the New Year. Meaningful...

Soybeans Market Overview Last week (the last full trading week of 2018) showed good movement of soybean vessels around the world. China’s state reser...

U.S. stocks are nearing a bear market, and there is nothing ahead to give that much hope. The trade war between the U.S. and China will continue to weigh h...

The adage that “the devil is in the details” has been borne out twice in the past week. These instances involved USDA’s new GM labeling r...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was firmer last week. Russia’s domestic prices were $2-6/MT higher in different regions. Meanwhile, it has exporte...

It’s been a tumultuous week on Capitol Hill. Congress faces a deadline of midnight tonight to fund the rest of the government and thereby prevent a p...

2018: Hot or Not Where one spends precious time is important to both the individual and those wanting some of that person’s time. A review of the rea...

Markets ended the Thursday evening session with wheat down 6 cents, corn up a penny and soybeans steady. Volume was light and continued that way in today&r...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.785/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.14/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close. ...

In response to lost soybean export sales to China because of the trade dispute, President Trump and USDA announced in August that farmers would be paid abo...

India’s Corn Prices Too High; End Users Want Imports The Indian poultry, dairy, feed and starch sectors’s corn consumption has grown 1.1 MMT si...

Grain and soy futures traded modestly higher overnight following yesterday’s weakness, although trading volume was in a holiday mode. The market was...

Article I versus 2 The Congress, as enumerated in Article 1 of the American Constitution, holds more powers than the Executive Branch as outlined in Articl...

USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed and quarterly Hogs and Pigs reports today after the markets closed, a day early given the coming holiday schedule...

Grain market chatter has tended toward things like the big U.S. crops, prospects for large South American crops, tightening world wheat and corn stocks but...

Soy Export Sales Highlights Today’s USDA weekly export sales report indicated a total 1,561,000 MT of soybeans were sold to China last week. USDA als...

• Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million h...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.7525/bushel, down $0.065 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.235/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close. ...

WPI's monthly publication features analyses of U.S. agribusinesses, the U.S. grain and soybean sectors, the U.S. biofuels industry, the global outlook for...

Wheat: Net sales of 313,600 metric tons for 2018/2019 were down 58 percent from the previous week and 42 percent from the prior 4-week average.  Corn:...

Grain and soy prices were mixed overnight, having traded on both sides of Tuesday’s closes. As the early morning trading recess approached, wheat pri...

Russian Grain Markets: 10-14 December 2018 Domestic grain prices grew except for the decreases in a few regions for corn. The average milling wheat export...

Comprehensive versus Selective There continues to be a wide gulf between Brussels and Washington over what will be included in negotiating efforts for a ne...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8175/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.225/bushel, down $0.1025 from yesterday's close...

Oilseeds Soymeal Inventory Has Minor Uptick Last week China’s soymeal inventories continued the same divergent and varied trends at the regional leve...

The overnight session opened with little price direction. Grain and soy prices were down just slightly, although they recovered enough to trade in mixed fa...

Trade Compensation Legs The Trump administration has approved a second tranche of trade mitigation payments to U.S. farmers and asserts that it is the fina...

Escalating Drought in Paraguay and Brazil Over the past few months, the soybean market has understandably been dominated by the U.S-China trade dispute. Ho...

With the Christmas and New Year holidays looming, this is the last full week for trading of grain and soy futures markets in 2018. Following early closures...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.855/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.3275/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Corn and soybean futures were higher while wheat market dropped lower in unenthusiastic trade. Wheat has a bullish technical story, however, and could see...

Congress faces a midnight Friday deadline to pass an omnibus spending bill that funds seven agencies in the federal government, including USDA. Any governm...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Morocco has reportedly reduced the import tariff on grains from Russia to zero, although it has not bee...

Beans versus Cows This week EU agriculture commissioners are considering the policy proposals for replacing imported oilseeds with newly incentivized, dome...

World crop production slipped in 2018 from the record levels reached in the previous five years, which masked the fact that world consumption also set reco...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.84/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.3525/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Wheat, corn and soybean markets started higher Sunday night, and they held those small gains throughout the entire session. The relatively light volume the...

Soybeans Market Overview The soybeans market was surprised last week when the U.S. government announced that 1.4 MMT of soybeans had been sold to China. Th...

Corn options traders remain bullish even after two weeks of sideways trading. While the market is likely to need fulfillment of the 3 December chart gap be...

Organizing of the Democratic caucuses in the Senate and House is taking shape for the 116th Congress as the slates of committee chairmen for the House and...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market is firmer as stocks are decreasing. Russia has already exported 21 MMT since the start of the campaign, and those stocks...

The final conference report farm bill, which is now on the president’s desk awaiting signature, totals $428 billion for its 2019-2023 authorization p...

SPS Minus Minus U.S. agriculture groups responded to a U.S. request for comments on what should be the objectives in negotiating a transatlantic trade agre...

Corn was higher with soybeans up slightly and wheat mixed in the Thursday night session. Trading volume was fairly strong overnight. This morning USDA anno...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8475/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.3/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close. ...

USDA trimmed the U.S. wheat export forecast by 25 million bushels (680,000 MT) in the December WASDE (supply & demand), but that wasn’t a surpris...

China Purchases U.S. Soybeans China has followed through on its commitment to President Trump with a purchase of U.S. soybeans. Yesterday USDA announced th...

Vegetable Oil Imports Decline India’s vegetable oil imports totaled 1.073 MMT last month, a drop of 10.1 percent from 1.174 MMT in October and down 1...

Overnight futures trade featured stronger wheat prices, lower soybean prices and corn near unchanged with only average volume. The soybean market seemed to...

Unveiling Good and Bad Members of the European Parliament voted 427–172 to obligate the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to publish all relevant...

Smaller-than-expected Chinese soybean purchases (real purchases, nonetheless!) sent the soybean market lower this morning which pressured hog futures as we...

The Chinese are back! After days of rumors, USDA/ FAS confirmed China’s return to the U.S. soybean market by reporting its purchase of 1.13 MMT for 2...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8425/bushel, down $0.01 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.36/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. ...

Farm Bill Animal Disease Measures The House of Representatives passed the final conference report on the 2018 Farm Bill yesterday (397-46), which followed...

• Wheat:  Net sales of 754,100 metric tons for 2018/2019 were up 6 percent from the previous week and 62 percent from the prior 4-week average. &...

It is hard to keep track of the rumors flying around concerning Chinese plans to buy U.S. soybeans. Their most common thread has China buying 5-8 MMT, alth...

Tale of Trade Restrictions’ Tail China came into the U.S. market today for soybeans, but American farmers now realize they need to diversify their ma...

Russian Grain Markets: 3-7 December 2018 Active demand drove domestic grain prices higher except for corn, which had a slight decline in the South. The ave...

The biggest news today was a report that Chinese state-owned enterprises purchased nearly 2 MMT of soybeans from the U.S. Early reports said 12 cargos (0.5...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8525/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.265/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close. ...

Oilseeds Soymeal Inventory Contracts Again with Modest Decrease Fluctuating demand at the regional level due to the varying impacts of African swine fever...

It has been more than 10 days since the Trump-Xi meeting in Buenos Aires wherein, according to President Trump and others in attendance, China agreed to pu...

Transatlantic Angst The American side accuses Brussels of delaying tactics in the negotiations and insists that agriculture is an agreed part of the effort...

The farm bill conference report was signed by the conferees last night and the text released. It is being touted as a “bipartisan” bill despite...

USDA notes the following: Total U.S. oilseed production for 2018/19 is forecast at 135.5 million tons, up slightly due to an increase for cottonseed...

USDA notes the following: Global 2018/19 oilseed production is forecast up 0.9 million tons to 600.5 million, with greater soybean production for Brazil an...

USDA notes the following about soybeans: Soybean supply and use projections for 2018/19 are unchanged from last month. With soybean exports and crush uncha...

China Apparently Deciding How Many U.S. Soybean to Import At their meeting in Buenos Aires, President Trump was able to get a commitment from President Xi...

USDA notes the following about Coarse Grains: This month’s 2018/19 U.S. corn outlook is for lower corn used for ethanol, reduced imports, and larger...

The December WASDE was unsurprisingly unsurprising. USDA literally changed nothing in the U.S. 2018/19 soybean balance sheet and made only modest adjustmen...

Mar 19 Corn closed at $3.8475/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 19 Wheat closed at $5.21/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.&nb...

In truth, there is not much to analyze in USDA’s December WASDE. It contained no changes in estimated U.S. yields or corn and soybean production leve...

USDA notes the following about wheat: The outlook for 2018/19 U.S. wheat this month is for unchanged supplies, lower exports, and higher ending stocks. Whe...

Regional Updates MIDDLE EAST/MEDITERRANEAN COMMENTS Middle East/North Africa (MENA) buyers of Ukraine’s wheat and corn are very concerned about the s...

Lighthizer Prevails U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer is one of four prominent names mentioned to become the next White House chief of sta...

The final draft of the 2018 Farm Bill conference agreement is likely to be released tomorrow, and a final vote could take place as soon as Wednesday (12 De...

USDA will release its December WASDE (supply and demand) estimates tomorrow for both the U.S. and the world. That wouldn’t be evident if only reading...

Following last week’s jump higher in corn, soybean, and wheat futures prices, the corn and soybean options markets continue to look for bullish price...

It was a quiet Sunday night opening with markets all slightly lower. Trading volume was also average or less both last night and today. The only difference...