Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 8:15 am

Monday was a mostly positive day for our markets.  Spot corn closed down 6 1/4, spot soybeans closed up 1/2, harvest winter wheat closed up 2 3/4 and harvest spring wheat closed up 2 1/2.  In the overnight trade corn and spring wheat are negative with soybeans and winter wheat on the positive side.  Oil closed up $3.24 yesterday at $102.88 per barrel.  It is stronger in trading again this morning with it now valued at $103.59 per barrel.  Our dollar traded between a low of $0.717 US and a high of $0.719 US over the last 24 hours.  This morning it is right in the middle of the range with it currently valued at $0.718 US.

Today the USDA releases their Quarterly Stocks Report and more importantly the Planting Intentions Report.  This report is widely expected to decrease corn acres down about 4.5 million this year to 94.0 million acres.  Soybean intended acres are expected to increase from 81.2 million acres last year up to about 85.5 million acres this year.  These changes are probably already priced into the marketplace however should the report bring forward any major deviations from these numbers we will likely see prices react.  We should note that the numbers reported today may not be really valid for this year as the US farmer survey was sent out before the current war against Iran started.  Remember fertilizer prices have spiked since then and this increase in fertilizer prices in theory would swing more acres away from corn.   This might not be seen at this time but would occur if costs remain high going into the spring.

Corn prices have fallen for 3 consecutive trading days and are getting weighed down from the level of US stocks.  The Stocks Report is expected to show almost a record level of corn stocks of over 9 billion bushels for this time of the year.  Even with the much stronger then expected exports this year out of the US the high stock level comes from the record production last year.

With the conflict continuing in the Middle East Speculative Funds keep increasing their long positions (looking for prices to go up) in our commodities.  As of last Friday, it is thought that they are holding roughly 300,000 long contracts in corn and 200,000 long contracts in soybeans.  They continue to gamble that prices will be going up and that the current geopolitical events occurring will support this.

For today what should our farmers be doing?  As usual we hate to chase market headlines and large swing in prices.  The best marketers will not be overreacting to the current volatility in prices but will be set up with target pricing to take advantage of positive prices swings!  Give us a call anytime to discuss how we can assist you in setting up a marketing plan for your operation.