Morning Markets: Corn: -0.75 old & -0.25 new.
Beans: -2.75 old & -0.75 new. Wheat: +1.75 old & +2.75 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 futures are quietly mixed this morning to start Thursday trade, with small ranges and light volume noted in all three of the corn, beans and wheat, while the product markets have seen spread activity through much of the overnight. Like previous days this week, focus remains almost entirely centered on Iran and the broader Middle East, with there still being little if anything new as far as news goes for the row crop markets themselves. We would advise patience at this point, with a long growing season dead ahead and high-level diplomatic happenings with China scheduled to take place in just another few weeks. Corn futures this morning are trading unchanged to a penny higher, soybean futures are trading 1-2 cents lower, and the Chicago wheat market is trading 4-5 cents higher.
Crude Oil is up $0.55 at $93.51
US Dollar is up at $98.74
Dow futures are down 259 points at 49,409
WEATHER:
- Forecasts this morning for the Midwest have moved sever weather potential over the next 24 hours a little further to the west than was seen yesterday, with eastern KS now seeing the highest risk area, followed by parts of MO, IA and southern MN. The EU model this morning sees rainfall totals between now and the middle of the day on Friday ranging from a tenth or two to upwards of an inch, though exact amounts/locations will be somewhat difficult to forecast. Generally speaking, areas further to the north look to see better rainfall potential, while areas to the south see more severe weather risk.
- Extended forecasts into the second week of May are maybe a shade warmer than recent runs, but are otherwise little changed in terms of precip with the bulk of the southern 2/3s of the US still expected to continue seeing generally above average precip potential as the pattern stays active.
OTHER HEADLINES:
- This morning's weekly export sales report, with data for the week ending April 16th, is expected to show old crop corn sales in the week between 1.0-1.8 MMTs, old crop soybean sales between 200k-600k MTs, and old crop wheat sales between 0-250k MTs. New crop sales are seen between 0-250k MTs for corn, 0-100k MTs for soybeans, and 100k-300k MTs for wheat.
- Private Black Sea analyst SovEcon on Wednesday said they now see Russian wheat production in 2026 at 89.7 MMTs, which is up a little over 2 MMTs from their previous forecast. The group cited favorable weather and improving prospects for the winter wheat crop as reason for the increase.
- The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said this week that planted area for the 2026/27 wheat crop in Argentina was expected to decline by some 3% from last season to roughly 6.5 million hectares. The group said optimism in the form of weather and El Niño, which is usually moisture friendly for Argentina, is being offset by poor economics mostly in the form of higher fertilizer prices.
- Staying in Argentina, Reuters reported yesterday that striking truckers and farmers had planned meetings in the coming days in an effort to settle labor disputes that have disrupted shipping activity at the Quequen port over the last several days. The port handles about 20% of Argentina's annual soybean exports.
- In a monthly update, the European Commission lowered its grain output forecast for the coming season to 278.1 MMTs, citing yield reductions from last year's exceptionally high levels, especially for wheat. The group added that corn production was expected to be up some 5% from last year, but that surges in fertilizer prices during the planting season could impact final planted area.
- Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Wednesday that the USDA is in daily communication with the White House and other agencies regarding the rises in fertilizer prices seen since the beginning of the Iran war, and that an action announcement would be made by the administration "soon". Rollins said the announcements would include both short term and long term strategies to bring down input prices.
- Following recent headlines regarding abysmal farmer response rates to USDA surveys for the March planting intentions report, the agency announced during its semi-annual data user meeting on Wednesday that it planned to increase its sample size of farmers surveyed for the June report by some 35%, and that it would increase by a further 10% for subsequent reports beyond that.
EXPORT NEWS:
- Private exporters reported sales of 130,000 metric tons of corn for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2025/2026 marketing year.
Be careful!
Bailey Runyen
Grain Originator | Topflight Grain Coop.
101 N. Main St. | Cisco, IL 61830
Phone :: 217-669-2141
Email :: brunyen@tfgrain.com
