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The European Union is looking “at all possible lanes” to support grain exports from Ukraine and is working to blunt the financial impact of extreme weather on farmers, EU Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen told Bloomberg in an interview.
Hansen said the EU has an important role to play in food security as a major agri-food exporter, noting that lower EU production “will as well mean eventually shortages somewhere else in the world.” Hansen said the bloc is in ongoing discussions with Ukraine and its neighbors to support exports, including via so-called solidarity lanes, though efforts have been complicated by low water levels on the Danube.
Also, the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, is working with member countries to cushion the impact of extreme summer heat and drought on farmers, the report said. In a letter sent on Tuesday, Hansen urged governments to quickly assess what tools and flexibilities under the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy could be tapped to address the fallout. “Options include invoking force majeure for some farmers, easing certain funding requirements, topping up aid under an emergency fertilizer action plan and bringing forward CAP payments,” Bloomberg reported.
Market recap: It was a choppy session that ultimately saw grain and soy complex futures lose ground in consolidative trade after recent gains.
- December corn fell 2 ½ cents to end at $5.43 ½ after hitting a contract- and 3.5-year high early on.
- November soybeans fell 7 ½ cents to $13.10 ¼ after poking to another contract and 2.5 year high.
- December soft red winter wheat fell 8 ½ cents to $7.74. It saw a contract and 3-year high in early trade.
- December cotton tumbled 262 points to 88.93 cents.
- October live cattle fell $1.90 to $310.175, its lowest finish in nine months. November feeder cattle fell 17.5 cents to end at $308.35.
- October lean hogs rose 12.5 cents to $83.775 after hitting a four-week intraday high.
The planting window: A Pioneer Crop Insights article by Mark Jeschke, agronomy manager, offers an interesting breakdown of 45 years of USDA crop progress data that underlines changes in planting times and windows for corn and soybeans across the north central U.S.
The data show that from 1980 to 2005, corn planting shifted 9 to 15 days earlier across almost all north central states, but the trend stopped or reversed between 2005 and 2025. The planting window for corn didn’t change much between 1980 and 2005, but since then has widened in nearly every north central state. Planting duration increased by double digits in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, and by over three weeks in Kansas. Overall, it takes longer to plant the corn crop now than it did in 1980 in every North Central state. In some states, planting is still completed earlier than in 1980 thanks to the early start. In several states, however, planting completion is being achieved later than it was in 1980, “which indicates that more acres of corn are being planted later than the optimum window for maximum yield potential,” Jeschke wrote.
The start of soybean planting, meanwhile, has continued to shift earlier over the past 45 years, by at least 10 days across all north central states. The soybean planting window is also wider, increasing by over two weeks in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. Still, thanks to the early start, soybean planting has been hitting the 90% completion threshold earlier overall compared to 1980 in nearly every state but Ohio, he said.
Fed finds ag conditions ‘remained strained’: The Federal Reserve released its August “Beige Book”, a summary of anecdotes about economic conditions across the central bank’s 12 districts. The report found economic activity across the U.S. had increased modestly since early July, with 10 districts reporting “slight to moderate” growth and two reporting no change. Inflation pressures remained persistent.
- “Agriculture conditions saw slight improvement but generally remained strained; the livestock sector was strong while conditions were stressed among crop producers,” the Fed report said.
At the district level, the Minneapolis Fed reported that agricultural contacts “were worried about drought. The Dallas Fed said agriculture conditions had “deteriorated due to drought conditions.” The Chicago Fed said farm-income expectations “improved some.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, in a speech last month at a policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., made passing reference to pain in the farm economy, but only in comparison to largely favorable conditions elsewhere. “Certain sectors – like housing and agriculture – are showing strains,” Warsh said. “But, on balance, I would be hard pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive.”
Record-breaking rally: The sharp advance across grain markets in August was accompanied by a trading frenzy that helped drive average daily volumes for Chicago soft red winter wheat futures, Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures to records of 216,000 contracts and 109,000 contracts, respectively, CME Group said Wednesday. Corn futures saw a 36% jump in average daily volume relative to last year to 602,000 contracts, while agricultural average daily volume overall was 2.2 million contracts. A volatile month for markets of all stripes saw teh CME book its second-highest August average daily volume on record at 29.7 million contracts, up 6% from the same month last year. Treasury volume jumped 15% from last August, while daily metals trade surged 48%.
Dutch central bank moves gold out of U.S.: The central bank of the Netherlands has moved more than 78 tons of gold from New York to London, the Financial Times reports. The central bank cited “increasing geopolitical unrest.” The FT said the transfer follows calls from European politicians and taxpayer lobbyists to repatriate gold reserves from the U.S. due to fears the U.S. government under President Trump may otherwise seize them amid rising transatlantic tensions. The move comes after France removed all its gold from the New York Federal Reserve between July 2025 and January 2026, the report noted.