GRAIN CALLS
Corn: Unchanged to 4 cents higher
Soybeans: 2 to 6 cents higher
Wheat: Winter wheat 10 to 14 cents higher, HRS 6 to 10 cents higher
GENERAL COMMENTS: Grains traded higher overnight, with wheat leading the way. Winter wheat pushed below key support in trade yesterday, with position-evening ahead of the WASDE report to be released later today helping push prices back above technical support in the overnight. Outside markets are modestly friendly to grains this morning, with the U.S. dollar index lower and crude oil futures up slightly as well.
USDA today reported a flash sale of 244,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2026/2027 marketing year.
President Trump on Tuesday claimed the U.S. had “total control over the Hormuz Strait,” according to a Bloomberg report, as Washington and Tehran hardened their positions in deadlocked negotiations over the critical waterway. “We own it,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington late Tuesday, an assertion Iran has dispelled via intermittent attacks on ships transiting the passage. “At some point, maybe they’ll do something, and then they get blown away.” Trump has oscillated for months between threatening to resume attacks on Iran and expressing confidence that talks to bring an end to America’s war with the Islamic Republic are progressing. His latest comments came after Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Asif, told Bloomberg in Islamabad that the two sides are “close to some sort of arrangement” over Hormuz, a key sticking point.
Global oil inventories will tumble this quarter at more than twice the rate previously estimated as the Iran war flares again, even as the hit to demand from high prices deepens, the International Energy Agency said and as reported by Bloomberg. Oil markets face a shortfall of 1.8 million barrels a day as “renewed hostilities and maritime disruptions” undermine a production recovery, the IEA said in its monthly report. For 2026 as a whole, the deficit will likely be the widest in five years. Stockpiles are tightening again even as elevated fuel prices prompt the agency to deepen estimates for this year’s decline in global oil demand by almost 50% to 1.6 million barrels a day. That’s the biggest slump in annual average terms since the 2020 Covid pandemic. While a brief ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran in mid-June revived oil exports from the Persian Gulf, shipping and regional energy infrastructure are once again under fire. That’s pushing up the cost of fuels such as gasoline and diesel — the workhorse of the global economy — and squeezing consumers. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday that 9 million barrels a day has escaped in the past week, almost half prewar volumes. The world’s depleted inventories ought to be replenished next year after oil markets tip back into oversupply, according to the Paris-based IEA.
Nearly 30,000 pounds of Argentine beef that wasn’t fully inspected before being distributed in Texas and Florida are being recalled, the US Department of Agriculture said and as reported by Bloomberg. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced that Florida-based Corte Argentino LLC was recalling several cuts of beef that missed a “reinspection” step when they entered the U.S. No illness or injuries have been linked to the imports, but the USDA is concerned that some of the cuts may already be in fridges or freezers, and urged consumers to throw them out. The meat was produced in May and has September freeze-by dates. The USDA didn’t say how the batch had slipped through the import reinspection process. The recall comes not long after the U.S. expanded its annual tariff-free beef import quota from Argentina to 100,000 tons from 20,000 to help tackle inflation — part of a broader trade agreement that has yet to be fully ratified.
CORN: December corn futures continue to remain muted compared to changes in soybeans and wheat. Initial resistance is at the 100-day moving average of $4.66 3/4, with further resistance at the $4.75 mark. Corn sees support from this week’s low of $4.57 1/2.
SOYBEANS: November soybean futures were higher on spillover strength from wheat. Support comes in at last week’s low of $11.70. Resistance is seen at the 40-day moving average of $11.84 3/4, then last week’s high of $11.95.
WHEAT: September SRW wheat futures are firmly higher in overnight trade. Initial resistance stems from this week’s high of $6.56 1/2. Futures see firm support from the 100-day moving average of $6.29.
LIVESTOCK CALLS
CATTLE: Choppy/higher
HOGS: Choppy/lower
CATTLE: Live cattle and feeder futures are expected to open choppy to slightly higher this morning. Boxed beef dropped $1.04 yesterday after Monday’s sharp gains, which weighed on cattle futures. Both live and feeder cattle contracts see support from their 10-day moving averages of $226.09 and $343.99 respectively.
HOGS: Lean hog futures are expected to open choppy to lower. Hog futures pulled back yesterday, keeping the longer term price downtrend in place. Technical selling is likely to continue as the cash hog market offers little support at this time.