Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Iran’s 2025 wheat production is being hurt by very dry weather. Rainfall up to Febru...

Meat packer margins worsened last week for both the beef and pork sector as higher animal costs exceeded any gains in meat values. Beef packer margins fell...

Except for the cattle markets, the CBOT was sharply lower to start the week with trade policy, favorable weather, and weak technicals and large noncommerci...

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.5425/bushel, down $0.1475 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.3125/bushel, down $0.1175 from yesterday's close...

There are numerous trade policy contradictions, both between the U.S. and other countries, and within U.S. politics. Internationally, China worries about i...

Corn  It was another very short trading week in Argentina, with Thursday and Friday being national holidays. Argentina’s corn harvest continues...

After years of research and a lengthy regulatory approval process, Genus Pig Improvement Company (PIC) has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug A...

Regional News  The weather forecast for Europe and the Black Sea remain highly varied, though mostly optimistic for grain and oilseed production. Cond...

Friday’s CFTC report showed that funds continue to lean bearish the ag space with money managers either paring back longs or expanding shorts. The on...

It was the lowest trading volume day of the week for grains and soybeans. It started with soyoil the only major contract trading lower, but by mid-session...

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.69/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.43/bushel, up $0.12 from yesterday's close. ...

Japanese trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa is in D.C. to talk trade. During a two-hour meeting with various officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bes...

The outlook for the last half of the 2024/25 cocoa market is dominated by generally favorable weather and upward revisions to production estimates. Demand...

Export Sales and Shipments for April 18-24, 2025. Wheat: Net sales of 72,000 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down noticeably from the previous week and...

It was modest volume trading grain and oilseeds today. Again, the lack of any new fundamental news has traders keeping their powder dry. USDA’s May W...

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.7225/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.31/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Broiler fundamentals continue to be favorable largely due to tight beef supplies and a more favorable value proposition versus the rest of the beef and por...

The Market  Soybean crushing margins improved 5 percent this week as lower soybean costs offset a mild dip in soyoil values while soymeal prices were...

The CBOT was mixed on Wednesday with grain and oilseed markets lacking much fresh fundamental news, other than weather updates and the first deliveries aga...

Monumental Task Luke Lindberg appeared before the Senate Agriculture Committee yesterday to be interviewed for the position of USDA Under Secretary for Tra...

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.755/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.3075/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Russian Grain Markets: 21 – 25 April 2025 Crop Outlook 2025 The spring planting campaign in Russia is in full swing. Fifty-six regions of Russia are...

The CBOT tried to rally overnight and posted some slight gains heading into the morning break, but thereafter the market quickly found selling pressure. Mo...

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.7025/bushel, down $0.13 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.255/bushel, down $0.055 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Canadians reacted with understandable revulsion to President Trump’s insults to their nation. In yesterday’s election, they were given two choi...

Canadian voters went to the polls last night. They selected Mark Carney, the current Prime Minister, as the leader of the new government. The writ of elect...

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Oman will be hosting the USSEC 9th Regional Aquaculture Production Conference 2-5 May. Sus...

The pork industry saw production margins improve last week as strong pork demand lifted prices for both the pork cutout and physical hogs. Pork packer marg...

The CBOT was mostly lower to start the week with expectations of favorable planting progress in this afternoon’s Crop Progress report creating much o...

Canadian Elections: Canada is going to the polls today. Earlier in the year, the Liberal Party was out of favor in Canada, but Trump’s talk of the 51...

Hard Hit with Benefits U.S. agriculture will likely bear the brunt of retaliation by trading partners responding to Mr. Trump’s tariff war, but it co...

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.8325/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.31/bushel, down $0.14 from yesterday's close.&nb...

 Corn   A week of favorable weather has given a strong boost to the summer crop harvest. As anticipated, farmers have already switched from...

Regional News  EU grain markets continue to see pressure as the euro’s meteoric rise to a 3½-year high against the U.S. dollar undermines...

Friday’s CFTC report showed that funds are slightly increasing bullish bets across the ag space, primarily in the soy complex and livestock futures...

With no new input on fundamentals, traders passively went through the day making only minor changes. Monday’s crop progress report will provide some...

Bayer CEO Bill Anderson averred in a recent Wall Street Journal interview that the company will make a decision “in months” - not years –...

U.S. soybean processing margins have seen considerable volatility over the past month as multiple fundamental factors upended global oilseed and product pr...

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.855/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.45/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  J...

Soybeans and corn rose in overnight trading on optimism about the de-escalation of the trade war with China, the world’s largest importer of the oils...

Export Sales and Shipments for April 11-17, 2025 Wheat: Net sales reductions of 145,000 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down noticeably from the previo...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.7725/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.445/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close. ...

The annual livestock slaughter data for 2024 was released Tuesday from USDA. Despite a reduced cattle supply, beef production totaled 27 billion pounds, up...

The Market  The oilseed markets are mostly higher this week with U.S. old crop demand, a slow harvest start in Argentina, and a slight settling in glo...

The CBOT was mixed again on Wednesday with grains seeing pressure from fund selling and a lack of significant news while soybeans and livestock traded high...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.72/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.435/bushel, down $0.0675 from yesterday's close.&n...

Greens Win/Lose The only government-backed organization to say glyphosate is carcinogenic is the UN’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IA...

Russian Grain Markets: 14 – 18 April 2025 Crop Outlook 2025 Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that around 90 percent of all winter c...

The CBOT ended mixed on Tuesday as traders parsed through a slew of different data points. Perhaps the most influential news for the day was private crop a...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.7575/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.5025/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close.&nb...

In 2022 and 2023, most HPAI cases affected producers during the spring and fall. The years 2024 and 2025 were different, however. The bulk of cases occurre...

The Washington International Trade Association held a conference today entitled, Phase 2: The Art of the Deal with China. Experts included former USTR offi...

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Iraq has confirmed that it will not need to import as much wheat in 2024/25 as it expects...

The CBOT was higher overnight as the U.S. dollar fell to a three-year low, but the day session saw the major ag market slip lower and end in the red with p...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.8175/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.385/bushel, down $0.1025 from yesterday's close.&...

Barriers are Good The issue de jour is tariffs. Donald Trump is vilified by conventionalists for the self-induced wound of raising this single barrier to b...

Argentina Macroeconomic Updates Argentina saw a shortened trading week, with no markets last Thursday and Friday. It was also the first week of trading und...

Almost none of the primary U.S. grain or oilseed offerings have made a solid start to 2025-26, as export sales for the upcoming marketing year are largely...

Friday’s CFTC report was consistent with expectations in that it showed managed money traders becoming dedicated net buyers across nearly every major...

Export Sales and Shipments for April 4-10, 2025.  Wheat: Net sales of 76,500 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down 29 percent from the previous wee...

U.S. cattle on Feed totaled totaled 11.6 million head on April 1, 2025 - 2 percent below April 1, 2024.  Placements in feedlots during March totaled 1...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.8225/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.4875/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close. ...

There might be more life on the planet K2-18b than was seen in some of the trading pits today. While some contracts closed higher and others lower, the one...

Tomorrow, 18 April, is a holiday for the CBOT/CME markets in observance of Good Friday. Please note that our office will also be closed. The next Ag Perspe...

USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report was released today because the markets will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday. The total inventory of cattle on...

The CBOT turned higher on Wednesday as bulls emerged from a two-day respite as technical conditions remained favorable. Perhaps the biggest news of the day...

Trade War Machinations EU trade negotiator Maros Sefcovic left Washington saying the Trump Administration’s trade policy goals were unclear. Yet, the...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.8425/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.4775/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets: 7 – 11 April 2025 Crop Outlook 2025 Dmitriy Patrushev, the Vice Premier of Russia, announced that during 2025 Russian farmers...

After moving higher the past few days and weather improving in both North and South America, there was low volume profit-taking in grains and soybeans. By...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.8125/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.42/bushel, down $0.055 from yesterday's close.&n...

One of the metrics we’ve been watching as a sign of herd rebuilding is the number of heifers as a percent of on feed inventory. However, we’re...

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Jordan increased its domestic price for wheat flour by 2.8 percent. This is the selling pr...

The CBOT was mostly in the red on Monday, though the weaker trade was primarily from bulls taking a breather after last week’s dramatic rally. After...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.85/bushel, down $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.475/bushel, down $0.0825 from yesterday's close.&n...

While most economists and mainstream media outlets are criticizing the Trump tariff war, none are professing that free trade is fair. To quote Bloomberg&rs...

Yesterday, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, Maros Sefcovic, came to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials. The trip follows com...

Grains  Argentina Ends Currency Controls; Grain Market Adjusts The Argentine government has announced the end of currency controls on the purchase of...

CBOT futures and ag markets look very different today than they did just one week ago. Last Friday, ag futures were deep in the red with traders exiting po...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.9025/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.5575/bushel, up $0.1775 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a budget bill by a vote of 216 to 214. The two Republican “no” votes were from Thomas Massie of...

Tariff War Patience The latest Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer survey of farmers fell 12 points or nearly 8 percent on concerns about the...

As WPI readers will be fully aware, there has recently been a flood of discussion about tariffs facing U.S. agricultural exports and imports. To date, WPI...

Tariffs are down for many countries other than China, but they have not gone away. Yesterday’s market exuberance over the temporary pause was just a...

Soybeans - USDA’s April 2025 estimates increase U.S. soybeans oil exports by 500 million pounds due to strong export commitments. U.S. soybean export...

Corn - USDA’s April 2025 estimates increase U.S. corn exports by 100 million bushels. U.S. corn ending stocks are down 75 million bushels from last m...

Wheat - USDA’s April 2025 estimates are for increased U.S. wheat imports by 10 million bushels to 150 million - the largest since 2017/18. Domestic c...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.83/bushel, up $0.09 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.38/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close. ...

The Market  Oilseed markets have been volatile again this week amid the tariff-induced meltdown in macroeconomic and ag markets and Wednesday’s...

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in March...

Export Sales and Shipments for March 28-April 3, 2025.  Wheat: Net sales of 107,300 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down 68 percent from the previ...

The ag markets – and financial markets broadly – posted a dramatic reversal on Wednesday after President Trump hinted on social media that he m...

It was another day of market turmoil over tariffs. There is still not enough clarity or transition time for businesses. The high tariffs between the U.S. a...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.74/bushel, up $0.05 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.4225/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets: 31 March – 4 April 2025 Russian wheat, the only de-facto exportable commodity for the moment, is relatively stable but shows t...

CBOT ag markets found more support on Tuesday as traders prepare for Thursday’s WASDE report and as hope is emerging that various trading partners wi...

Trump officials this past weekend kept up the mixed messaging over whether reciprocal tariffs were merely a negotiating strategy or a permanent fixture. Br...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) headed a letter of 15 other bipartisan Senators asking President Trump to permit th...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.69/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.4/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  May...

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Syria’s grain production was down by 17 percent in 2024 and due to dry weather and s...

Except for beef packer and feedlot placement margins, cattle and hog industry profits were broadly lower last week with the pork industry seeing the most p...

Soybeans and wheat followed the overnight and opened higher, with corn briefly above zero. Supportive early in the session were export inspections for last...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.645/bushel, up $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.365/bushel, up $0.075 from yesterday's close. ...

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is trekking to Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona starting today to tout state laws that align with his “Make America...

Corn Market Update Argentina Faces Harvest Delays and Changing Trade Dynamics Corn harvest progress in Argentina was slow last week, with only 1 percentage...

Regional News  Both the GBP and EUR are seen as safe-haven trades right now, which has led to appreciation in both currencies. That is making exports...

The ag markets and traders’ position in them look dramatically different now than they did last Tuesday, the CFTC’s weekly reporting deadline...

Many stock market experts this week were advising not to start panic selling, but apparently many did. Major stock indices dropped 6-7 percent. Agricultura...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.6025/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.29/bushel, down $0.07 from yesterday's close. ...

Now that the Administration’s tariff plans are out, what is happening to the trade deficit? After hitting a record in January, the trade deficit shra...

Anyone following the beef and cattle markets recently has seen the volatility that preceded the recent surge to new contract highs, and the lack of consens...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.575/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.36/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.&n...

The market opened today as it had closed from the previous night’s session, with double digit declines in many contracts. An hour into today’s...

Early reactions to President Trump’s tariff war are as expected. Major foreign trading partners are expressing shock and assuring Washington that if...

Yesterday, President Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs, stating: My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day. April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as t...

Export Sales and Shipments for March 21-27, 2025. Wheat: Net sales of 340,000 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were up noticeably from the previous week and...

The Market  Prior to the Liberation Day tariffs that President Trump announced late Wednesday, oilseed markets were seeing noted strength due to renew...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.5775/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.3925/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close.&...

President Trump declared 2 April as “Liberation Day” for U.S. trade policy, which is funny because the policies have nothing to do with liberat...

“Reciprocal” Tariffs President Trump’s political opponents acknowledge he is a great marketer and his multi-day hype of a “Liberati...

Russian Grain Markets: 24 – 28 March 2025 The Russian Ministry of Agriculture once again announced revised figures for the 2024 crop including occupi...

The CBOT was mostly higher following the all-important Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks reports with traders looking to price in emerging factors now...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.6175/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.405/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close. ...

Trump’s tariff threats are said to be causing uncertainty, though its intent is transparent. One thing tomorrow’s release of the tariff plan wi...

USDA Retirement: USDA employees have until 8 Apil to decide whether to participate in the administration's so-called deferred resignation program. USDA emp...

Near-record negative margins for beef packers continue to dominate discussion of livestock industry margins this week. Beef packer profits rebounded slight...

Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region There is very little information on the Middle East and North Africa due to the end of Ram...

May 25 Corn closed at $4.5725/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Wheat closed at $5.37/bushel, up $0.0875 from yesterday's close. ...

The big news in commodity markets Monday was the release of USDA’s Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks reports, the former of which offered the ag...

Liberation Day Minus One The Trump team is said to be weighing 20 percent across the board tariffs, reducing the share of U.S. funding of the WTO, and crit...

President Trump said yesterday, his reciprocal tariffs will launch this Wednesday, calling it “Liberation Day.” Those new tariffs will affect "...

Argentina Continues to Face Weather Instability   Argentina remains in a period of climate instability, with frequent heavy rains, strong winds,...