Grains in the Green This Morning

Ahead of 9:45 a.m. CT, December corn was up less than a penny at $4.17¼ per bushel.

November soybeans were up 4½¢ at $10.17½ per bushel.

December CBOT wheat was up 5½¢ at $5.14¾ per bushel. December KC wheat was up 4¢ at $4.99½ per bushel. December Minneapolis wheat was up 4½¢ at $5.61½.

“We’re in day two of the partial government shutdown,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX. “The Energy Information Administration continues to turn out reports, but most other government reports are on hold. That means that we received no weekly jobless claims data this morning, nor do we expect to see the government’s monthly jobs report tomorrow. In the ag sector, no weekly export sales report was released this morning. USDA indicates that it won’t release any reports until funding is restored, and that could lead to a delayed or cancelled WASDE [World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates] crop report, as happened in October 2013, and again in January 2019. The latter shutdown went for 35 days, so the cancellation of that WASDE report was understandable. The 2013 shutdown went for 16 days, pushing the reopening close enough to the November report that USDA decided to skip the October report.”

Yesterday, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about intensions to use tariff revenue to support soybean farmers who have missed out on Chinese business during the trade war. He also committed to discussing soybeans during an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.  This morning, Reuters reported U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the government would make an announcement next Tuesday concerning support.

Reuters quoted Bessent as saying: “On Tuesday, you’re going to see substantial support for the farmers, and we’re also going to be working with the Farm Credit Bureau to make sure that the farmers have what they need for next planning.”

As of 9:41 a.m. CT, December live cattle were down 38¢ at $234.13 per hundredweight (cwt). November feeder cattle were down $2.18 at $355.43 per cwt. December lean hogs were down 28¢ at $86.63 per cwt.

November crude oil was down 71¢ at $61.07 per barrel.

The U.S. Dollar Index December contract was up to 97.62.

A little past 9:30 a.m. CT, the S&P 500 Index was down 1.01 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 87.99 points. 

Published: 10:05 a.m. CT