Errata: The original version of this article incorrectly state the January 2018 soybean yield estimate at 50.6 BPA, instead of the true February (which mad...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.705/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.3075/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Export Sales and Shipments for December 27, 2024 – January 2, 2025. Wheat: Net sales of 111,300 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025--a marketing-year low--...

USDA’s January estimate is for U.S. soybean production is down 95 million bushels to 4.366 billion bushels due to a 1 bushel per acre yield reduction – to...

USDA’s January estimate is for reduced U.S. corn production at 14.9 billion bushels, down 276 million as a 3.8-bushel per acre cut in yield to 179.3. U.S...

USDA’s January estimate is for unchanged U.S. wheat exports of 850 million bushels. Projected 2024/25 ending stocks are raised 3 million bushels to 798 mil...

The Market Soybean futures have largely been waiting for the January WASDE report, which USDA will publish on today, with traders specifically focusin...

It was a good thing that futures markets closed early today given that there were very few inputs to guide movements. The U.S. government was closed i...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.56/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.34/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close. Ma...

Last year, cattle markets were driven by tight supplies of cattle, heavy carcass weights, low cow culling rates, higher input costs, more imports of feeder...

There was generally low volume in grains today as traders await USDA’s important reports on Friday. There is no reason to spend more money on fees or commi...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.54/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.3625/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Russian Grain Markets: 30 December 2024 – 3 January 2025As of the end of 2024, Russian Statistics Agency (RosStat) statistics show “preliminary” grain crop...

On the campaign trail in 2024, then-candidate and now President-elect Donald Trump proposed to levy tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on all imports, and 60 perc...

Corn opened lower but managed a quarter penny higher close, and hogs tried to follow cattle higher at the open but ended lower for a third session in a row...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.58/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.425/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close. Mar...

MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGIONEgypt will see the investment of $100 million by China’s New Hope Group in the expansion of its a...

The CBOT tried – and mostly succeeded – to reverse Friday’s selloff with corn, wheat, and the soy complex all turning higher to start the first full tradin...

In a joint session today, Congress certified the 2024 election results. That sets up the incoming Trump Administration to pursue an ambitious First 100 Day...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.5775/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.405/bushel, up $0.1125 from yesterday's close. M...

Another Trump ThreatThe farm community supported Donald Trump’s election despite his pledge of tariffs that will no doubt cause retaliation against U.S. ex...

2025 Outlook Last year was extremely challenging for Argentine agriculture, with sharp declines in commodity prices exacerbating the situation in rece...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.5075/bushel, down $0.0875 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.2925/bushel, down $0.165 from yesterday's close.&...

The CBOT started 2025 on a relatively strong note, but any hints of bullishness were largely erased on Friday. Ag markets across the board fell sharply on...

The poultry sector is poised for production growth in 2025, but price trends are expected to vary across products. Broiler growers in the U.S. placed...

Export Sales and Shipments for December 20-26, 2024 Wheat: Net sales of 140,600 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025--a marketing-year low--were down 77 per...

Corn and soybeans opened lower but quickly shifted back to positive territory. All three wheats were lower in overnight trading and pretty much traded lowe...

Typically, prices for hams and the beef rib primal drop after Christmas, but this year, reduced slaughter has been more supportive of prices. What does tha...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.595/bushel, up $0.01 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.4575/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close. ...

The day’s trading started out hum and glum. Corn and soybean contracts moved modestly like their overnight closes and stayed marginal for most of the day...

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...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.585/bushel, up $0.0625 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.515/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close. ...

Death of Ag BidenomicsMuch has been written about Bidenomics. Its fans bemoan that the data is good, but the voters failed to appreciate that specific mess...

On this penultimate day of trading in 2024, there were ups, downs and perhaps some profit-taking. Like the overnight, grains and soybeans opened higher thi...

Parting ShotsIn an interview with DTN, outgoing USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed his long-running frustration that farm spending favors larger farms an...

This week marks the end of 2024, and the beginning of 2025.  Indeed, 2024 was a notable year in the cattle markets with implications to carry over int...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.5225/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.4825/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.&n...

Grain markets were quiet in Friday’s overnight trade despite the bullish technical days they scored on Thursday. The Export Sales report – as one of the fe...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.54/bushel, up $0.0025 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.465/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close. Ma...

The CBOT found its way to higher ground on Thursday after an old-school hard opening with no overnight session to guide the market. Argentina’s weather is...

As WPI reported on 2 July, USDA released its proposed Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) reforms; the final proposal was released in early November 2024.&...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.5375/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.41/bushel, up $0.0625 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets: 16 – 20 December 2024Last week, the Russian grain markets showed the first signs of the holiday season with rather weak trading. Rus...

Financial markets will be closed on Wednesday, 25 December for the Christmas holiday. As a result, there will be no Ag Perspectives report on Wednesday. WP...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.485/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.3475/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Corn, soybeans, and soymeal closed higher ahead of the Christmas holiday, driven by short covering, technical factors, and increasing dryness in Argentina...

Both beef and pork packer margins improved last week on stronger spot meat demand and pricing while producer margins showed mixed trends. Margins for feedl...

On 23 December, USDA released its quarterly (Sept-Nov) Hogs & Pigs report and it was bearish. The total inventory of hogs and pigs on 1 December was 75...

Ship Subsidies: The SHIPS for America Act has been introduced in the U.S. Congress and is intended to boost the number of U.S. built ships. Currently, Chin...

MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGIONTurkey has revised its wheat import rules for flour millers – millers can now import up to 25 per...

The CBOT was mostly higher to start the holiday-shortened trading week with wheat leading the way on short-covering and despite the surging U.S. dollar. Co...

Two Big ThingsJust days before Christmas 2024, two big things happened that impact U.S. agriculture. On their way home for the holidays, members of the U.S...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.4775/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.405/bushel, up $0.075 from yesterday's close. J...

A government shutdown was averted after frenetic eleventh-hour action last week in Congress to pass a continuing resolution, which is a short-term appropri...

WheatOver the past seven days, the lack of rain allowed a 12.2-percentage-point increase in Argentina’s wheat harvest progress, which reached 76.1 percent...

Regional News On Monday morning, Russia announced that its 15 February – 30 June 2025 wheat export quota will be 10.6 MMT, slightly below the 11.0 MMT...

China is by far the world’s largest consumer of pork, eating over half the world’s supply. This also drives feed demand and this grain supply destruction...

The big surprise in the CFTC report was that funds, through Tuesday last week, did not exit as much of their long corn position as previously thought. Expe...

U.S. Cattle on Feed was 11.982 million head on December 1, 2024 in feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head. This inventory was slightly below the Dece...

Except for soyoil and SRW, the market provided a rebound today for the agricultural commodity markets. Most contracts reflected their overnight closes. Key...

USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today. The total cattle on feed inventory was 12 million head, the same as last year, as expected. Placemen...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.4625/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.33/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close. Jan 25...

The 2024/25 cocoa market outlook is dominated by production concerns and continuing tightness in global stocks-to-grindings levels. The latter point will l...

Export Sales and Shipment for December 6-12, 2024.Wheat: Net sales of 457,900 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were up 58 percent from the previous week and...

The CBOT reversed much of its recent weakness on Thursday with technical trade and “bottom picking” emerging in the soy complex. The soy complex was not ov...

Farm Aid RevivedThe latest Monthly Monitor of agricultural economists showed that 56 percent believe the sector is already in a recession and a whopping 81...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.4075/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.33/bushel, down $0.0825 from yesterday's close. ...

The MarketAfter hitting a four year low including a contract low of 947/bushel yesterday, the March contract bounced back 13.25 cents in today’s trading. B...

USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report will be released tomorrow. Analysts’ pre-report consensus estimates are for the total inventory on feed to be 99.9 per...

The country song Oklahoma Breakdown (originally written by Mike Hosty, subsequently popularized by red dirt country artist Stony LaRue, then eventually cov...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.3725/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.4125/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close...

EconomyLeaders gather this month for the annual Central Economic Work Conference with the view of another sub-par year ahead and the need for bold action t...

Transatlantic DynamicThose in U.S. agricultural trade policy agree with Donald Trump that the EU treats America badly.  The large U.S. agricultural tr...

Russian Grain Markets: 9 – 13 December 2024Russian grain markets remained relatively stable but, in some areas, especially export platform, prices were bea...

Bears were in full control of the CBOT on Tuesday with soybeans hitting new contract lows, soyoil posting a bearish breakout from technical formations, and...

Retail sales rose 0.7 percent in November; this was slightly higher than the consensus expectations. There are a few nuances to consider, however. First, t...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.435/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.45/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close. ...

Tear it Up IICanada’s finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, resigned and President-elect Donald Trump is being blamed. That is an over-simplification and sh...

MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGIONEgypt is rumored to be considering further devaluation of its currency against the U.S. dollar. T...

Pork packers were the only sector of the livestock industry to see significant improvement in profit margins last week. In contrast, beef packers saw margi...

The CBOT was mixed on the start of the last full trading week of 2024 with exports and South American weather being the primary variables to affect market...

As of today, Congress has four days until government funding expires, and 15 days to pass a farm bill extension before (31 December) permanent law goes int...

Wheat Argentina’s wheat harvest recorded a week-on-week progress of 15.8 percentage points and reached 63.9 percent of the total area. Yields remain g...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.45/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.5/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close. Jan...

Regional News Last week, a vessel rammed a lock on the Moselle River in Germany, which led Euronext to suspend delivery at French delivery ports on th...

American agriculture is already facing a less affluent future. Commodity prices have softened, and South America now dominates the global export market. Th...

The major theme of the latest CFTC report is that funds continued to build length in the corn market on strong export demand and added length to seasonal r...

There is no way to make this sexy. This is a market mostly perceived to be at equilibrium. Perceptions can be wrong but with nothing else to go on, volume...

A look at Argentina’s fiscal and economic policy is instructive on two levels. First, understanding its impact for Argentina’s position in ag commodity tra...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.42/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.5225/bushel, down $0.0625 from yesterday's close.&nb...

The recent unexpected surge in physical fed cattle prices has created significant discussion about what the beef and cattle price environment will be headi...

A disappointing Export Sales report for most of the major commodities sent CBOT futures broadly lower on Thursday. Export sales and shipments for corn, soy...

This week’s WASDE held steady the price outlook for 2024 fed steers and broilers and increased hog prices slightly. The fed cattle price has generally been...

Food Fight AheadThere are two committee confirmation hearings that aggies will be watching intently early next year: the Senate Committee on Health, Educat...

The MarketSoybean futures continue their steady, narrow-range trading. South America is the big unknown and hedging both upside and downside risk means hov...

Export Sales and Shipments for November 29-December 5, 2024.Wheat: Net sales of 290,200 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were down 23 percent from the previo...

Grain futures continued to find support from Tuesday’s bullish WASDE report with corn, wheat, and soybeans all trading higher, though corn futures dipped i...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.4825/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.6325/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Hunger GamesDonald Trump’s Cabinet nominees are unconventional, far more so than in his first term as president. It could result in a shakeup of staid and...

EconomyDeflation continues to be a problem with the Producer Price Index declining in November for the 26th month in a row. Consumer inflation was expected...

Russian Grain Markets: 2 – 6 December 2024Export duties were the key driver followed by forex and increased freight costs for rail deliveries which are the...

WASDE Soybeans: 2024/25 U.S. soybean supply and use projections are unchanged. There was a significant increase in soybean oil exports by 500 million pound...

WASDE Corn: 2024/25 U.S. corn use for ethanol production is increased by 50 million bushels to 5.5 billion. U.S. corn exports are raised 150 million bushel...

WASDE Wheat: 2024/25 U.S. wheat exports are raised 25 million bushels to 850 million bushels. U.S. wheat ending stocks are reduced by 20 million bushels to...

The CBOT was mostly higher heading into the WASDE as funds were cautiously covering shorts and paring back risk before the holidays. The WASDE proved to be...

With the retirement from Congress of House Energy and Commerce (HEC) Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA), the gavel was up for grabs in what is ar...

Regulation RuseFarmers in Europe oppose the recently completed free trade agreement with Mercosur, and have long prevented a transatlantic agreement with t...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.49/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.6175/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close. Ja...

Regional UpdatesMEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGIONAn Egyptian military organization has reportedly taken over the wheat purchasing...

The livestock packing sector saw mixed trends in profitability over the past week with packer margins improving for both the beef and pork sectors. Beef pa...

The CBOT saw mostly WASDE-motivated short covering on Monday with funds scaling back short positions in wheat and soybeans and cautiously extending longs i...

EU’s Approach to TrumpAs Europe’s economy founders under a tax and regulate approach, and its security becomes increasingly threatened by appeasement and i...

October meat and livestock trade data was released on Friday. Beef exports are down 2.6 percent at 2.5 billion pounds, following lower U.S. beef production...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.4175/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.5875/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close. ...

Wheat The Argentine wheat harvest has reached 48.1 percent of the expected area, with weekly progress of 9.4 percentage points, with efforts primarily...

Regional News The EU and Mercosur trade blocs finally signed a free trade agreement that had been delayed and debated for 25 years or so. EU Commissio...

The major theme of the latest CFTC report is funds paring back risk in corn and the soy complex heading into the December WASDE report and/or the holiday s...

Commodity futures trading had a modest day and a modest week, but things will pick up with Tuesday’s USDA December WASDE report. Notable metrics include: S...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.4/bushel, up $0.05 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.5725/bushel, down $0.01 from yesterday's close. Jan...

Part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was section 45Z, the Clean Fuels Production Credit. It is in effect from 1 January 2025 through 31 December 2027...

EU-Mercosur FalloutThe EU and Mercosur reached agreement on a quarter century effort to have a free trade agreement. Tariffs will be removed on over 90 per...

The recent weakness in soyoil prices – and, indeed, the multi-year plunge from record highs in 2022 – has been driven by the dynamics of declining expectat...

The CBOT moved higher on Thursday after the weekly Export Sales report provided bullish demand-side inputs for the major commodities. Corn, wheat, soybeans...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.35/bushel, up $0.05 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.5825/bushel, up $0.1 from yesterday's close. Jan 2...

MarketAfter four sessions of yoyoing up and down on lower volume, January soybeans are rangebound and net 4.25 cents higher thus far this week. There have...

Recent rains have been supportive of feeder cattle prices. The moisture has been a catalyst to prices given the smaller overall supply of calves with droug...

Export Sales and Shipments for November 22-28, 2024.  Wheat: Net sales of 378,200 metric tons (MT) for 2024/2025 were up 3 percent from the previous w...

The CBOT continued its mostly range-bound trading affair on Wednesday with the ag markets seeing little fresh news to drive price action one way or another...

The Russian Ministry of Agriculture reported that as of 26 November, Russian farmers produced 132 MMT of grains in bunker weight which is 19.3 MMT less tha...

Squaring Budget and TaxesU.S. agricultural spending could get squeezed between the incoming Trump Administration’s desire to extend tax cuts, which creates...

Meat DemandChina is the largest consumer of meat, consuming 27 percent of world supplies and while pork has been the dominate choice, poultry demand has be...

Mar 25 Corn closed at $4.3/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close. Mar 25 Wheat closed at $5.4825/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close. ...