North Gower Grains

Thursday, April 3, 2025, 7:20 a.m.

Wednesday was a negative day for our markets.  Harvest corn closed down 3/4, harvest soybeans closed down 2, harvest winter wheat closed down 1 and harvest spring wheat closed down 1 3/4.  In the overnight trade all of our markets remain on the negative side.  Oil closed up $0.51 yesterday at $71.71 per barrel.  It is weaker in trading this morning with it now valued at $68.24 per barrel.  Our dollar started out yesterday morning at $0.698 US and then traded flat until late in the afternoon when it started rising.  This morning it is currently valued at $0.708 US.  This is the strongest our dollar has been since early December of last year.

Yesterday was probably the quiet before the storm.  Our markets were waiting to see how they would be affected by President Trumps Liberation Day.  Soybean prices did close about the 100 day moving average for the first time since February 27, 2025.  They were supported once again by the strong price showing for soybean oil.  It has rallied with reports that US exporters already have commitments for this marketing year to export just over 2 billion pounds of soybean oil.  This is over three times as much as the USDA had originally projected for soybean oil exports for the full marketing year.

The short-term fallout from Liberation Day has been that our markets are weaker with soybeans pulling back the most.  China was hit with additional tariffs which bring total tariffs placed on Chinese imports up to about 57%.  As soybeans are one of the largest items that China imports from the US it becomes the most likely item that will subject to Chinese retaliation.  In reality the marketplace will be watching how all the countries are going to react to the new tariffs and more specifically how this will affect agricultural trade going forward.  The weakness in the US dollar will also be closely watched going forward.

Weekly ethanol production in the US rose by 1% last week.  It came in at 1.063 million barrels per day.  Blender demand increased week over week by 2% however ethanol exports decreased over the week.  The net result was a drawdown in ethanol stocks by 2.7% down to 26.6 million barrels.  All in all this was another supportive week for corn from the ethanol market.

If you would like to talk about the markets or price some of your crop for the future or in store, please reach out to us via phone or email to info@northgowergrains.com. Prices quoted herein are for product at our elevator.