North Gower Grains

Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 6:45 am

Tuesday was a positive day for our markets.  Spot corn closed up 2, spot soybeans closed up 11 1/4, harvest winter wheat closed up 7 3/4 and harvest spring wheat closed up 8.  In the overnight trade all of our markets are back on the negative side.  Oil closed down $1.50 yesterday at $101.38 per barrel.  It is weaker again this morning with it now trading at $100.20 per barrel.  Our dollar started out yesterday morning at $0.718 US and then trended lower going down to $0.716 US early in the afternoon.  It has bounced back up since then with it currently valued this morning at $0.720 US.

The USDA released their Planting Intentions Report today and they did come in with more corn acres then were expected and less soybean acres than expected.  Corn came in at 95.3 million acres which was more than the expected 94.4 million acres but still less than the 98.8 million acres from last year.  Soybeans came in at 84.7 million acres as compared to the pre report expectations of 85.6 million acres.   Last year the US Farmer planted 81.2 million acres of soybeans.  The higher than expected corn acres really should be negative for corn prices and the lower than expected soybean acres should be supportive for the soybean market.

Wheat acres came in lower than expected also.  Total wheat acres of 43.8 million are the lowest on record since 1919 in the US.  Last year the US Farmer planted 45.3 million acres.  The reduced acreage with the current dryness in the US HRW wheat growing regions resulted in higher prices over the trading day.

The Quarterly Stocks Report came in with both corn and wheat stocks lower than expected but still very large.  Soybeans came in slightly higher than expected.  Net result was that this report did not really affect the market that much.  However, with prices lower this morning it is possible that the large stock levels are pulling our markets lower.