Morning Markets: Corn: -4.75 old & -3.25 new.
Beans: -32.25 old & -11.75 new. Wheat: -6.25 old & -5.75 new.
Topflight Grain is offering Free DP on soybeans to all full-time locations except Maroa based on space availability good through August 31, 2026.
We are also offering Free DP on corn delivered to Pierson and Milmine based on space availability good through August 31, 2026.
MARKET SUMMARY:
Good morning. Ag markets are lower to sharply lower well across the board this morning to get Monday trade started, as new China headlines from over the weekend out of the Trump administration have led sellers to press the downside through the overnight hours. We mentioned a couple weeks ago that the planned summit between Trump and Xi, long scheduled for the end of this month, would likely come into question several more times before the time came for it to occur, and it would appear this morning that is exactly the case. Corn futures are trading 3-5 cents lower, soybean futures are trading 30+ cents lower, and the Chicago wheat market is trading 5-6 cents lower.
Crude Oil is down $3.36 at $95.35
US Dollar is down at $100.30
Dow futures are up 361 points at 47,247
WEATHER:
- Following a weekend of winter weather across much of the Corn Belt and upper Midwest, forecast focus for the region to start the week this week will flip from precip to temperatures, as a sizeable pocket of frigid air from the north is able to punch through the mid-section of the country today and tomorrow, dropping daytime highs to the single digits and teens for a lot of places. The cold doesn't look to last though, as models then see most all of the continental US back to above average warmth by the end of the week and weekend.
- As far as moisture goes, the eastern US will continue seeing precip from the current storm system that impacted the Midwest over the weekend, but the rest of the region looks to have a generally quieter week aside from a small clipper system that goes through northern and north-central areas Tuesday night/Wednesday. Generally speaking, much of the moisture totals seen for areas east of the Mississippi River this morning over the next seven days come in the next 24 hours.
OTHER HEADLINES:
- This morning's delivery to run to start the new week is much like previous days' seen last week; the CME Group assigned another 111 contracts of corn, 5 contracts of soybeans, 2 contracts of soybean meal, 29 contracts of soybean oil, and 12 contracts of rough rice.
- Friday afternoon's CFTC Commitment of Traders report for the week ending March 10th showed a massive week of fund buying in corn, as managed money traders added 140,297 contracts in the week, their biggest week of buying since 2019; this makes them now net-long 193,271 contracts. Funds bought 23,205 contracts of soybeans (+222,107) and 3,455 contracts of Chicago wheat (-22,345). In the products, funds bought 18,574 contracts of meal (+80,661) and bought 33,330 contracts of oil (+108,838).
- NOPA (the National Oilseed Processors Association) is expected to release monthly US soybean crush data later this morning at 11am central time. Traders see the group pegging February crush at 202.725 mil bu, which if accurate, would be down nearly 9% from the January figure but still up some 14% from February 2025. Soybean oil stocks as of the end of the month are seen at 1.928 bil lbs, which would be the largest monthly figure since April of 2023.
- According to Reuters, delegations from the US and China met at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for more than six hours on Sunday, with the talks being described by sources familiar as "remarkably stable." However, sources also say topics discussed on the ag side included Chines purchases of US poultry and beef, and notably, "non-soybean row crops." The verbiage, along with potential delays to the scheduled end-of-month summit, are likely behind most of this morning's selling.
- Private Brazilian ag group Patria AgroNegocios said over the weekend in a weekly update that the country's soybean harvest has reached just under 58% complete, which continues to lag last year's pace by some 10% due to ongoing near-daily rainfall in the northern and north-central growing regions. However, the figure is in line with the five-year average of 57.9%, and the group also mentioned that yields were still generally good.
- US Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said late last week that the administration was preparing an announcement aimed at addressing the rising costs of fertilizers, adding that all available options to lower input costs were being reviewed. It is unclear this morning when that announcement is expected or what sort of measures it may involve, but the statement highlights an ongoing effort by Washington to protect farmer margins amid the worsening geopolitical landscape.
EXPORT NEWS:
- N/A
Be careful!
Bailey Runyen
Grain Originator | Topflight Grain Coop.
101 N. Main St. | Cisco, IL 61830
Phone :: 217-669-2141
Email :: brunyen@tfgrain.com
