Every week seems to be a key week in markets these days, but next week has the potential to be especially important for several reasons.
Markets can't ignore the weather much longer. If the eastern and southern Corn Belt do not get rain next week, yield estimates will have to be decreased, and possibly quite sharply for corn. Corn has started to pollinate in central Illinois, and that isn't a good thing with little or no topsoil moisture and little rain in the forecast. Yield girth and kernel count is formed before pollination actually begins, so there is little question yields have been hurt across some major producing areas. Soybeans might have a bigger window to receive beneficial precipitation, but second crop soybeans are being...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
