GRAIN CALLS
Corn: 2 to 4 cents lower.
Soybeans: 5 to 7 cents lower.
Wheat: 1 to 3 cents higher.
GENERAL COMMENTS: July corn futures slid to a contract low overnight. Soybeans and wheat hit for-the-move lows, but wheat rebounded from early losses. Front-month crude oil futures are sharply lower this morning while the U.S. dollar index is around 310 points lower.
USDA reported daily export sales of 115,000 MT of corn for delivery to Colombia during the 2026-27 marketing year.
Late Wednesday, USDA Secretary Rollins posted on X that USDA’s APHIS confirmed the detection of a New World screwworm fly in a three-week old bovine in Zavala County, Texas. ”USDA and Texas Animal Health officials are taking immediate action to contain and eradicate NWS from the area,” said the post. Rollins said she has been in contact with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and emphasized that the U.S. food supply is 100% safe. A concern in the cattle industry is that U.S. consumers will be spooked by news media reports describing NWS. For example, the lead paragraph in a Bloomberg story overnight reads: “U.S. authorities are accelerating emergency measures after the flesh-eating New World Screwworm parasite was detected in a three-week-old calf in South Texas, the first animal case reported in the country in almost a decade.”
Iran said there had been no recent progress in talks with the U.S. over an interim peace deal, while fighting persisted in Lebanon despite Washington’s declaration of a ceasefire between Israel and the country. The U.S. and Iran are struggling to finalize the details of a deal that is meant to see the sides extend their truce by two months and Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial ships. Clashes continued in southern Lebanon overnight, with no reports of Hezbollah attacks into northern Israel since the ceasefire announcement, and no immediate indication whether Hezbollah had accepted the agreement. Still, both Iran and the U.S. broadly say the talks are ongoing and signal they want to reach a deal, which would lead to more and complicated discussions on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Export sales for the week ended May 28: Corn: Net sales of 883,300 MT for 2025-26, down 13% from the previous week and 32% from the four-week average. Japan and Mexico led sales. Analysts expected sales of 900,000 MT to 1.5 MMT. Soybeans: Net sales of 276,900 MT for 2025-26, down 8% from the previous week but up 24% from the four-week average. China led sales, with the bulk of its total coming from switched sales from unknown destinations. Analysts expected sales of 100,000 to 500,000 MT. Wheat: Net reductions of 642,200 MT for 2025-26. Sales totaled 838,500 MT for 2026-27. Old-crop sales were below pre-report expectations ranging from -200,000 to 100,000 MT for 2025-26 but were above 250,000 to 600,000 MT for 2026-27.
CORN: July corn futures hit a contract low overnight. Psychological support comes in at $4.25 on continued selling pressure. Resistance stands at $4.35 on a bounce.
SOYBEANS: July soybean futures continue to slide. The 200-day moving average provided support overnight and remains a key technical benchmark at $11.46. Bulls first objective is getting prices back above the $11.50 mark, with additional gains looking to overcome resistance at $11.71.
WHEAT: July SRW wheat saw a modest bounce from yesterday’s for-the-move low. Support comes in at the overnight low of $5.81 1/4. Resistance stands at $5.94 1/4, the 200-day moving average, then the psychological $6.00 mark.
LIVESTOCK CALLS
CATTLE: Lower.
HOGS: Choppy/higher.
CATTLE: Cattle futures are expected to open lower as the NWS case in Texas weighs on prices. The case is no threat for disease in people and is not a food safety concern for consumers, but the psychological effect on traders is hard to ignore. Bulls are holding out for a “sell the rumor, buy the fact” type response from markets today. Cash trade remains slow so far this week, averaging modestly below $255. Choice beef rose $1.79 to $395.86 Wednesday, extending the recent rally.
HOGS: Hog futures are expected to open with a mostly firmer tone, support by gains in the cash market. The CME lean hog index is up another 60 cents to $92.25 as of June 2, extending the recent push higher. That could help propel futures above stiff resistance at the 20-day moving average, which has limited gains the past couple session. Pork cutout slid $2.08 to $98.51 Wednesday, led by losses in ribs and butts, though all cuts saw losses on the day.