Remembering September 11, 2001: Those of us old enough to remember know exactly where we were 25 years ago today when we heard the news of a major terror attack on U.S. soil. If you have not seen the video of the nearly 3,000 synchronized drones forming the twin towers in New York City last night, it’s a must see. May God Bless the United States of America, and especially those who lost friends and loved ones on that fateful day a quarter-century ago.
GRAIN CALLS
Corn: 3 to 5 cents lower.
Soybeans: 9 to 11 cents lower.
Wheat: 1 to 3 cents lower.
GENERAL COMMENTS: Corn, soybeans and wheat each gave up some of Thursday’s gain overnight. Sideways trade is likely to continue ahead of today’s reports from USDA. Today’s closes will be key as steep uptrends are at risk on the daily bar chart for corn and wheat. Front-month crude oil futures are down on corrective selling this morning while the U.S. dollar index is trading near steady.
USDA reported daily export sales of 264,000 MT of corn for delivery to Mexico during the 2026-27 marketing year.
Last month’s Pro Farmer Crop Tour offered the first comprehensive, field-level look at 2026 corn and soybean crop prospects. Now, it’s USDA’s turn. USDA’s September Crop Production Report due to be released at 11 a.m. CT today will be the agency’s first this year to utilize objective yield data, offering a look into planted population, ear counts and implied ear weights. USDA’s Aug. 12 report relied on farmer surveys, satellite data and crop condition ratings to come up with a 180.2 bushel yield estimate. Following the Crop Tour, we pegged the average U.S. national corn yield at 173.2 bushels per acre. We don’t expect USDA’s September report to match our estimate, but the direction of travel should be down from the agency’s August estimate. The question is: By how much? For the U.S. soybean crop, the average analyst estimate in the Bloomberg poll pegged yield at 52.4 bushels per acre, down from 52.7 bushels in August and below the Pro Farmer estimate at 53.3 bushels. Harvested acres are estimated unchanged from August at 85.8 million acres, bringing production to 4.492 billion bushels, 27 million bushels below USDA’s figure a month ago. For a more detailed breakdown of today’s WASDE report, click here.
Diesel prices in the U.S. hit yet another record late this week, pushing above $6 a gallon on average as the U.S. war with Iran disrupts the world’s flow of fuel. The national average of $6.05 is up from $5.85 last week and $3.70 this time last year, according to motor club AAA. Beside seriously impacting agriculture, “higher diesel prices mean more expensive transportation for a long list of everyday goods. That’s because diesel is used for many freight and delivery networks. And some businesses have already passed along steeper costs to consumers in the form of added fees on online orders and packages in the mail,” said The Associated Press.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the newest U.S. trade measures against Canada will hurt some businesses but will only have a “modest” impact overall. The move suggests Canada does not want to escalate its trade frictions with the U.S. The U.S. announced import bans on goods including alcoholic beverages, whey proteins and motorcycles, and will restrict Canadian companies’ ability to sell to U.S. government contractors. Carney said the best response is focusing on his government’s plan to reinforce the domestic economy and diversify the country’s trade and economic relationships, and that Canada is “always ready to sit down in a professional way and negotiate”.
CORN: December corn is pivoting around the 10-day moving average. Bulls are looking to close prices above $5.35 on report driven strength, while support comes in at this week’s low of $5.26 1/2.
SOYBEANS: November soybeans surged to a contract high overnight. Bears took advantage of selling the fresh high, but prices remain above support at $13.20, which is backed by support at $13.05. Resistance stands at the contract high of $13.35 1/4.
WHEAT: December SRW wheat found staunch resistance at $7.42 1/4, the 10-day moving average, which is reinforced by the psychological $7.50 mark. Support comes in at the 20-day moving average at $7.30 1/4.
LIVESTOCK CALLS
CATTLE: Choppy/higher.
HOGS: Choppy/lower.
CATTLE: Live and feeder cattle futures are expected to open with a mostly firmer tone in a continuation of recent strength. Bulls are maintaining a modest uptrend on the daily bar chart. Cash trade has been slow to develop so far this week with very little trade taking place. Futures are narrowing the discount to futures, which is boosting feedlots edge in negotiations. Choice beef fell $2.40 to $378.37 Thursday as cutout has been stabilizing.
HOGS: Lean hog futures continue to show strength despite seasonal weakness. That divergence can only hold for so long before futures correct. The CME lean hog index is down another 57 cents to $88.22 as of Sept. 9. Pork cutout slid $1.82 to $91.81 Thursday, led by losses in bellies.