Author: staff

Ahead of 9:20 a.m. CT, December corn was up 1¾¢ at $4.07 per bushel. This morning, USDA announced unknown destinations are buying 124,000 metric tons of corn for the 2025/2026 marketing year. November soybeans were up 1¼¢ at $10.43¾ per bushel. December CBOT wheat was down 2¾¢ at $5.24¼ per bushel. December KC wheat was down 3¢ at $5.25½ per bushel. December Minneapolis wheat was down a penny at $5.88¼. “The focus this week will be on the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX. “This tour has followed the same routes for scouting…

By Roberto Samora SAO PAULO, Aug. 15 (Reuters) – A unit of U.S.-based grain merchant Cargill will build a corn ethanol plant adjacent to its sugarcane plant in Brazil’s Center-Western state of Goias, the company said on Friday. Agribusiness portal AgFeed reported the plans first. Cargill confirmed the business decision but declined to disclose other details of the project. Cargill already produces ethanol from sugarcane and corn in Goias. The company’s biofuels subsidiary in Brazil is called Cargill Bioenergia. The new plant’s construction is another step by Cargill to grow production of biofuels in Brazil, a global grains powerhouse. In February, Cargill…

By Cami Koons Oat harvest is a week behind last year’s schedule and five days behind the average, according to the crop progress and condition report from the USDA. The first full week of August followed trends from July with above-average precipitation across the state, though Iowa crops continue to progress well. Overall 83% of the oat crop has been harvested. South-central Iowa has the highest percentage of acres harvested at 96% of its oat acres.  Corn acres are about one day ahead of schedule with a reported 68% of acres having reached the dough stage, characterized by a doughy consistency inside…

Prices for used semis in agriculture are up about 25% over last year but supply is stable, according to Andy Campbell, TractorZoom director of insights. He said prices may continue to climb through the summer as the market reacts to tariffs and normalizes.  “We saw a peak in April, after the major tariff announcement, because everyone was looking for trucks to transport goods while they were still available,” Campbell said.  Normal price spikes on semis occur in the third and fourth quarters, with increased consumer demand for the holidays, and trucking companies looking for tax benefits at the end of…

By Cami Koons JBS USA announced Wednesday it had reached an agreement to purchase an Ankeny, Iowa, facility, previously owned by Hy-Vee, to build out a ready-to-eat bacon and sausage facility.  According to a press release from the company, the 186,000-square-foot facility will be the largest of its kind in the JBS portfolio and will create approximately 400 jobs, once fully operational. The purchase and required facility enhancements represent a $100 million investment, according to the release. The plant is expected to be operational by mid-2026 following capital investments and construction.  The facility was previously the Fresh Commissary, which made…

1. Corn Futures Decline in Overnight Trading Corn futures were lower in overnight trading amid forecasts for record U.S. yield and production and on favorable weather forecasts.  The USDA this week said it now expected corn yield of 188.8 bushels an acre and production of 16.742 billion bushels, both record highs.  That’s up from the previous forecast for yield of 181 bushels an acre and production of 15.705 billion bushels.  Stockpiles at the end of the 2025/2026 marketing year are now pegged at 2.117 billion bushels versus the July outlook for 1.66 billion bushels, USDA said in its report. Conditions…

1. Corn Futures Rise on Signs of Demand Corn futures were higher in overnight trading on signs of demand for U.S. grain.  South Korea purchased 136,000 metric tons of corn for delivery in the 2025/2026 marketing year that starts Sept. 1, the USDA said Thursday. Spain was also in the market, buying 132,000 tons.  Sales of 315,488 tons of U.S. corn to Mexico were reported earlier this week, underpinning prices.  Since the start of the current marketing year last September, exports have been robust for much of the season, USDA data shows.  Corn shipments are now at 64.4 million metric…

By Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (Reuters) – A top U.S. oil trade group on Thursday joined a chorus of complaints against a new government proposal to slash incentives for biofuel imports, testing the Trump administration’s resolve to keep the policy in the upcoming months. The mounting criticism puts the White House in the position of having to side with either farmers looking to prioritize domestic supply, or refiners seeking cheaper feedstock — both groups loyal to President Donald Trump. At issue is a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency in June that would allocate only half as…

By Cassandra Garrison TAPACHULA, Mexico, Aug. 15 (Reuters) – On a scorching afternoon in the rural heartland outside Mexico’s southern city of Tapachula near the Guatemala border, rancher Julio Herrera calls his herd back from an afternoon of grazing. “Gate! Gate!” he hollers as the cows turn the corner from the pasture and trot instinctively to their corral. He runs his hands under their hooves, feeling for wounds through which the deadly screwworm parasite could burrow inside their bodies. Efforts to protect his herd can only go so far, he says, until Mexico’s government steps up to tackle what he considers the core issue:…

The most recent U.S. drought monitor map showed intensifying short-term rainfall shortages led to expanding and intensifying dryness and drought over much of the Lower Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley, Northeast, and parts of the Deep South, southern Plains, central Arizona, and the central Rockies. U.S. map showing drought conditions with varying intensities. A second consecutive week of moderate to heavy precipitation brought areas of improvement across the northern reaches of the Rockies and Plains and over parts of the central Great Plains. The heaviest amounts — 8–11 inches — drenched areas in southeastern Wisconsin, from central Washington and…