Overview
- ProFarmer crop tour field checks over the mid‑August window showed corn yields in Nebraska and Indiana below last year and below recent averages with Illinois results lowering expectations further.
- USDA weekly export reports and private notifications recorded large shipments and new‑crop business including a 136,000‑ton private soybean sale to China and roughly 233,000 tons of old‑crop corn sold, reinforcing demand pressure on balances.
- Markets have reacted with price moves concentrated in corn and soybeans, with December corn rallying past $5 and soybeans posting strong midweek gains before a partial pullback into Thursday’s close.
- Wheat prices retained an added premium because rising strikes and disruptions to Black Sea port operations have cut expected export flows and reduced global supply estimates in the IGC report.
- Livestock markets stayed volatile as a Tyson plant shutdown tightened local slaughter capacity and President Trump authorized 90 days of reduced ground‑beef tariffs while traders await Friday’s Cattle on Feed data that could change near‑term cattle supplies and trade flows.