3 Big Things Today, Oct. 22, 2025

1. Soybean Futures Rise Slightly in Overnight Trading

Soybean futures were modestly higher overnight amid ongoing uncertainty over trade talks with China. 

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had been planning to meet on the sidelines of an economic conference in South Korea at the end of the month, fueling optimism that the world’s largest economies would come to an agreement to end the ongoing tariff war. 

Trump said yesterday that while he expects to make a “good deal” with Beijing at some point, the meeting between he and Xi may never materialize. 

“I think we’re going to have a very successful meeting,” the president told reporters at the White House. “Certainly, there a lot of people waiting for that.”

Still, he said the meeting may never materialize. 

“Maybe it won’t happen, maybe it won’t happen,” he said. “Things can happen where, for instance, maybe somebody will say I don’t want to meet.”

Negotiators from the U.S. and China met last week and were again scheduled to talk this week in a bid to end the ongoing tariff war between the countries. 

Soybean futures for November delivery rose 2¾¢ to $10.51¼ a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soymeal fell $1.10 to $285.80 a short ton and soybean oil futures gained 0.15¢ to 50.8¢ a pound. 

Corn futures were unchanged at $4.19¾ a bushel. 

Wheat futures for December delivery lost 1¢ to $4.99¼ a bushel, and Kansas City futures dropped a penny to $4.84 a bushel. 

2. USDA to Release $3 Billion in Aid, Reopen FSA Offices

The USDA plans to distribute billions of dollars in farm aid as it partially resumes operations Thursday, Secretary Brooke Rollins said on social media. 

USDA’s Farm Service Agency will resume “core operations” including loan processing, agriculture risk coverage and price loss coverage, and other programs, she said. 

The amount of aid will top $3 billion, Rollins said. 

All 2,100 FSA offices in the U.S. will reopen this week to distribute the funds to farmers, she said in an interview on Fox Business. 

USDA, along with most other agencies, has been closed amid the ongoing government shutdown that started on Oct. 1. 

The funds will come from the Commodity Credit Corp., originally created in 1933 to ensure farm incomes that allows the government to borrow from the U.S. Treasury to finance its activities, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

3. Freeze, Frost Advisories Issued From Kansas to Indiana

Freeze warnings are in effect in a few counties along the Nebraska-Iowa border while frost advisories have been issued from northwestern Kansas east into southern Indiana, according to National Weather Service maps.

Temperatures in northeastern Nebraska and northwestern Kansas were expected to drop as low as 30°F overnight, NWS said. The freeze warning in the area is set to end at 9 a.m. local time. 

Temperatures in eastern Iowa and northern Illinois also fell to about 30 degrees overnight and are forecast to drop again tonight into Thursday, the agency said. 

In the southern Plains, where wheat farmers are planting the winter crop, precipitation is expected on Thursday. The odds of precipitation rise from 10% to 20% tomorrow morning to as high as 60% in the afternoon, NWS said.