Author: staff

What happened The 2025 December corn futures contract, as of this writing, is trading near $4.40. The December 2024 contract is trading near $4.14. In theory, this implies that the market is only going to pay farmers 26¢ to hold corn in storage for one year. That does not seem logical. Perhaps more importantly, there seems to be very little financial incentive for farmers to plant corn in 2025.  Unless corn prices rally, we anticipate that farmers will likely reduce acreage, just as they did for the 2024 season when acres were reduced by 3.9 million. If another 2 million…

Image By ungvar, Shutterstock Four finalists have been selected in the 12th annual National Anthem Singing Contest. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association invites the public to vote for the winner beginning today, November 1. The four finalists are:  Anah Higbie: Quenemo, Kansas Jaci Deitrick: Newcastle, Oklahoma  Payton Goodman; Canyon, Texas  Hayden Ladd: Waldron, Michigan  The public can vote for their favorite singer once per day per person through Nov. 15, and the winner will be announced on Nov. 15. The winner will perform the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the Opening General Session of CattleCon25 and will receive round trip…

The Midwest is expected to receive multiple rounds of widespread rain throughout the first week of November. Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Illinois are predicted to see the highest rainfall totals.  Kathy Krafka Harkema, a fourth-generation corn, soybean, and livestock farmer in Eastern Iowa, said that the dry weather pattern has made for a smooth harvest but is posing concerns for soil moisture going into winter. Iowa’s harvest is running ahead of schedule, with 84% of corn harvested and 96% of soybeans harvested, according to the Crop Progress Report released on Oct. 28. Rain in the forecast is relieving some stress…

Strong agriculture leaders are critical to the future of the soybean industry, and the American Soybean Association wants to provide a student interested in agriculture with a college scholarship as they start their education. The Soy Scholarship is a $7,000 one-time award presented to a high school senior who plans to pursue agriculture as an area of study at any accredited college or university in the 2025-26 academic year. The scholarship is managed by ASA and made possible through a grant by BASF Corporation. “Today’s students are tomorrow’s agriculture teachers, researchers, farmers and policymakers. We are thrilled to support future…

Many farmers and rural residents with land or other available resources are thinking of raising sheep. A lot of things need to be considered before you invest in a sheep enterprise. To run a successful sheep enterprise, you’ll want to efficiently produce high-quality lamb and wool that can be profitably marketed. The first step is to evaluate the resources you have available. Then you’ll need to design a sheep production system that will use those resources most efficiently. Take Stock Before diving in and purchasing a flock, make sure to take stock of what you need to be successful —…

December corn is up 4½¢ this morning. January soybeans are up 10¢. December wheat contracts are also higher. CBOT wheat is up 3¾¢. KC wheat is up 3½¢. Minneapolis wheat is up 2¢. Earlier this morning USDA announced export sales to multiple destinations: China is buying 132,000 metric tons of soybeans for the 2024/2025 marketing year.Mexico is buying 781,322 metric tons of corn — 715,800 metric tons for the 2024/2025 marketing year and 65,532 metric tons for the 2025/2026 marketing year.Unknown destinations are buying 198,000 metric tons of soybeans for the 2024/2025 marketing year.India is buying 30,000 metric tons of…

1. Wheat, Corn Futures Lower Overnight Wheat and corn futures were lower in overnight trading amid favorable weather in several growing areas around the world.  Rain fell overnight in parts of the Oklahoma panhandle and more showers are forecast for the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.  More rain is projected for the area early next week, the agency said.  In Australia, limited rains this week will allow farmers into fields to harvest their wheat crop, said Don Keeney, an agricultural meteorologist with Maxar.  “Mostly dry weather should prevail through Friday,” he said. “Light rain should favor eastern Queensland.” …

1. Soybean Futures Higher in Overnight Trading Soybean futures were modestly higher in overnight trading on technical buying and dry weather in the U.S. Midwest.  Investors who were short the market, or had bet on lower prices, likely jumped in and bought back contracts after prices dropped around 1% in the past week.  About 66% of a nine-state region that includes Iowa and Illinois, the largest producers of both soybeans and corn, was suffering from drought conditions last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  That’s up from 53% a week earlier and only 3.9% three months ago.  Eighty-three percent…

As of Oct. 27, 56% of the U.S. winter wheat crop has emerged, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in the latest Crop Progress report. This is 5 percentage points behind the national five-year average. Emergence has begun in each of the top 18 winter wheat growing states, with California last at just 10% emerged. North Carolina is close behind, with 11% of the winter wheat crop having emerged.  Planting is still underway in 17 of the top 18 states, with only Washington having all of its crop in the ground so far. Nationwide, 80% of winter wheat planting is…

Iowa corn growers have harvested 84% of their crop so far, over 20 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Soybean harvest across the state is even closer to being wrapped up for the season: 96% of the crop had been harvested as of Oct. 27, outpacing the five-year average by 10 percentage points. That’s all according to the most recent USDA Crop Progress report.  State Climatologist Justin Glisan reported widespread rainfall returned to Iowa the week ending Oct. 27, the most falling in the east-central part of the state. Glisan added some striking context to the amount of rainfall:…